Sunday, September 27, 2009

Creamy Broccoli Soup with Cheddar Crisps


It is that time of year again - soup!!! Mmm, how I love soups, stews, and chili.

This weekend I pulled a recipe out of an old Food and Wine magazine -
Creamy Broccoli Soup with Cheddar Crisps.


Now if I would have read the soup recipe before putting in in my recipe file, I never would have chosen it. Onion, celery, garlic, broccoli, and water...that's it. Not even salt and pepper? That sounds like the blandest soup ever. So of course I changed it up and came up with the following:


Soup Ingredients

  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1/2 white onion, chopped
  • 2 stalks celery, chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 3 heads of broccoli, chopped into florets
  • 6 c vegetable broth
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper
  • 1/2 tsp white pepper
  • 1/4 c heavy cream

Directions

  • Heat olive oil in a soup pot
  • Add onions, garlic, and celery. Saute until soft, about 7 minutes.
  • Add broccoli and broth; bring to a simmer until broccoli is tender, about 15 minutes.
  • Transfer everything to a blender (in batches) and puree until smooth.
  • Return to the pot and season with the salt, black pepper, and white pepper.
  • Add cream and bring to a slow simmer. Serve with cheddar crisps.

Cheddar Crisps

Crispy little wafers of cheddar to garnish the soup - sounds good to me. But again, the Food and Wine recipe was way off. The directions say to bake them on 400 for 18 minutes... I put a tray in the oven and set my timer to check them in 9 minutes. After only 9 minutes, half of the advised cooking time, the crisps were black.

So I tried again - 7 minutes is the magic time.

What I liked about these crisps was how they harden as they cool, so you can form them into different shapes.

I'd love to use these as a cup for a small salad by pushing them around a mug or cup, but with Parmesan like these crisps I made once to garnish mashed potatoes.

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3 comments:

  1. Those cheddar crisps are the perfect accompaniment - I love the idea of them and they look really yummy!

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  2. I'm planning to make this soup tonight. After reading both your recipe and the Food & Wine version, I can't imagine how theirs can be any good with just water - your use of veg broth & cream makes much more sense! Will report back later :)

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  3. MMM The soup was a success (despite the fact that my blender and I are not friends) - having seconds now! And the cheddar crisps.... It's dangerous how easy these are. I didn't have parchment paper so I used foil. I needed to bake them for a few extra minutes to get them off the foil but they were crispy and amazing. Thanks for sharing!!

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