Broccoli and blue cheese soup

Now I know that over there in Australia, you'd never think about a soup recipe on the first day of summer. But on this side of the ditch, summer has made itself known with rain and a bit of wind. So it's still perfect weather for soup.

This one came about because not so long ago, Alan and I took ourselves out for a long lunch, one of our most favourite things to do in this cool little capital. We drove around to the other side of the harbour to a place called Eastbourne and ate at Cobar. Over three hours, we had two wines and four courses. Second course was broccoli and blue cheese soup and it was divine. 

So as I routinely do when I eat out and taste something amazing, I go home and Google it until I find the best recipe version and then set about finessing it. 

And here it is. 

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

Oil, butter
1-2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 onion, finely chopped
1 leek, sliced
2 celery sticks, chopped
1 medium potato, peeled and diced
1 litre chicken stock
2 heads of broccoli, roughly chopped (chop the stalks as well)
200g blue cheese, crumbled (less or more to your liking)

Method

So dead-set simple. Throw a knob of butter and a slug of oil in a big pot, and when melted, add the garlic, onion, leek, celery and potato.

Let it sweat it out for about five minutes, then add the chopped stalks of the broccoli and the chicken stock.

Simmer for about 15 minutes or until the stalks are pretty soft. Then add the rest of the broccoli and cook for another five minutes.

Now get out your whiz thing and blitz it up, then add most of the blue cheese and stir over a gentle heat till it melts.

When you serve it, season with black pepper and sprinkle the rest of the blue cheese over it. A nice slice of toasted cheesy French bread can sit on top, if you've got the energy.