Potato Broccoli Soup

Last night, I made potato broccoli soup. I am usually not a big fan of soups because they always make me more hungry afterwards. But I was at the produce store and they had some broccoli in a big bag for only $1! So I got that, and was wondering what I can do with so much broccoli before it all goes bad.

I had some reeeeeeally old potatoes sitting in my room, so I thought, hey, I can make some kind of soup. Typed the three simple words "potato broccoli soup" into trusty ol' Google and I got some actual recipes! The first result was actually from my favourite chef of all time, Michael Smith! A few other recipes I looked at had similar versions, so I just adapted mine from Michael Smith's recipe:

• 3 tablespoons olive oil


• 3 onions, peeled and chopped


• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped


• 6 cups chicken stock, vegetable stock or water


• 2 large potatoes, peeled and grated


• 1 head of broccoli, stems cut into chunks and florets reserved


• Salt and pepper


• A large pinch of nutmeg


• 1 cup grated cheddar cheese

(I took out the last two because I didn't have any of them.)



I used only 1 onion, about 6 to 8 cloves of garlic, 3 small potatoes, and 2 heads of broccoli. (The stems are not shown in the pictures.) Very wide deviation from his proportions indeed.



I sauteed the onions and garlic in butter and olive oil, and then added the diced potatoes into the pot, along with some water.



I simmered it for about 10 minutes and then added the broccoli stems, and instead of chicken broth, I cheated and added 3/4 of a chicken buillon cube.



After another 10 minutes or so, I  took out the contents and blended them in 3 batches in my teeny-tiny food processor.



I would like to use a hand blender but that is a redundant piece of equipment in my kitchen now, as I don't really need it that much.



The processing resulted a mush that resembled green mashed potatoes. I returned the mush to the pot, and added more water, and seasoned with salt and black pepper.



When the soup started to boil, I added the broccoli florets. By this time, my pot was almost overflowing. I can't help it, I only have ONE pot! Maybe when I get more into making soups and such I'll invest in a bigger pot. After 5 minutes, the broccoli was cooked and the soup was heated through.



Ready to taste! The taste was quite good, because of the onions and chicken buillon cube. Definitely could use some improvement on the appearance because it was a dull-looking green. A little less water would have made the soup more thick. Other than that, it was purely an experiment and using up the broccoli and potatoes I had on hand.

I've had about enough with soups for now! Cheers!

♥ Nikki