Recipe: Broccoli Cheddar Soup with Mustard Croutons

Winter is a good time for soups, no matter how cold it actually is where you live. It’s certainly damp and gray enough here in London to make a nice warm soup hit the spot. F sent me the recipe for this soup last week, so I suggested we make it on the weekend. Make it we did, roughly doubling the recipe because we had lots of broccoli and no time to cook again until Wednesday. The soup turned out well, though F thought it was a bit starchy and suggested roughly mashing the potatoes next time before blending them. Or we could just use one less potato. That said, it’s a silky-smooth soup with great flavor from the broccoli and mustard. Don’t skip the croutons — they totally make the dish!

broccoli & cheese are at the heart of this soup

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Broccoli Cheddar Soup with Mustard Croutons (adapted from this recipe)

Ingredients

• Croutons:
  • ~3 cups (6oz) of whole wheat baguette, cut into chunks
  • 2 tbsp salted butter, melted
  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 tbsp whole grain or dijon mustard
  • to taste: sea salt
• Soup:
  • olive oil
  • 2 sm-med onions, diced
  • 3-5 potatoes, cubed (we used 5 but it might be better with 4)
  • 3-5 garlic cloves, minced
  • 3-5 cups water
  • 2 sm-med heads of broccoli, roughly chopped
  • 1-1.5 cups cheddar cheese, grated
  • 2-3 tbsp whole grain mustard

baking mustard croutons (don’t skip these!)

Procedure

• Make croutons: Preheat the oven to 350F/175C. Mix the liquids with the mustard in a bowl, then add the bread cubes and mix until the bread is coated. Spread the bread on a baking sheet, sprinkle with sea salt, and bake 10-15′ or until slightly browned, stirring occasionally.
  
• 

  blending away

  Make soup: Saute the onion in olive oil until it begins to soften. Add the potatoes and cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until they begin to soften (5-7′). Add the garlic and water, then bring to a boil. When the potatoes are nearly cooked, add the broccoli and continue simmering until everything is soft enough to blend. Remove the pot from the heat and blend it with an immersion blender, adding half the cheese and mustard at a time.

• Serve bowls of soup with croutons on top and a generous grinding of fresh black pepper.

Enjoy!

voila!

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