So many people I know don’t make soups because they think it’s difficult. Hopefully after reading this post, many of you will run to the kitchen, with the most minimum of ingredients, and try out this recipe. All you need is a favorite vegetable that you want to turn into a luscious, creamy soup.
Back when I was feeding my young children, it seemed that they would always eat soup over a vegetable. Even if it was the same vegetable! So I made a lot of soups.
You don’t have to limit yourself to the soup as is. You can always sprinkle on different cheeses, add a dollop of sour cream, add grilled chicken, Polish or Italian sausage, or ham. Then it becomes a meal!
What I love is that there are so many different ways of making a basic soup like the one I’m making today.
For example, the vegetable choices*:
Butternut Squash
Pumpkin
Acorn Squash
Carrot
Parsnip
Cauliflower
Broccoli
Zucchini
Sweet potato
And so forth.
Next, the aromatics:
Onion
Garlic
Ginger
Leeks
Shallots
Celery
Bell peppers
The creaminess:
Heavy cream
1/2 and 1/2
evaporated milk
sour cream
creme fraiche
goat’s milk
almond milk
soy milk
hemp milk
coconut milk
and so forth.
There are many seasonings that can be added to home-made soups as well, but I want to keep this vegetable soup simple. Once you figure out how easy it is, you’ll be excited and motivated to get creative with flavors from your refrigerator and pantry! (I’m talking curry powder, pesto, chipotle peppers, Thai curry paste, etc.)
So here’s my basic recipe, and I hope you make it your own!
Creamy Broccoli Soup
2 heads broccoli, approximately 2 pounds after trimming
1 small onion, coarsely chopped
4 cloves garlic, peeled, halved
Chicken or vegetable broth
6 ounces evaporated milk, or less
Butter, optional
Salt
White pepper, optional
Cheese, optional
Rinse the broccoli, then coarsely chop it. Place it in a stock pot. Add the onion and garlic.
Pour in your broth until it comes about halfway up the layer of vegetables.
Bring the broth to a boil, then cover the pot and let things simmer for 20-30 minutes. If you’re worried you have a lot of extra broth, leave off the lid, or have it offset to allow steam to escape.
Let the mixture cool.
This is also the time I had a tab of butter, about 1 or 2 tablespoons, a little salt, and a little white pepper. The butter adds a richness to the soup, but it can be omitted, of course.
Place the vegetables in the jar of your blender using a slotted spoon. Pour a little bit of broth into the blender, just to get it blending.
Then add the evaporated milk until you have the consistency you like.
I do it this way, because if you add all of the broth first, the soup might end up to watery, On the other hand, if soup is too thick, then you still have broth to add. Of course, it all depends how thick you like your soups.
I like my vegetable soups thick and creamy. Thin, watery soups are not my thing.
At this point, if you’d like to make a cheesy cream to top the soup, mix together a good goat or sheep’s cheese with a tablespoon or so of evaporated milk or cream, and blend until smooth.
If you make a cheesy cream, I hope you’re more creative than I am at making an appealing-looking presentation!
Alternatively, just crumble the cheese on top of the soup; I used Valbreso. Children would love grated cheddar on this soup.
You could also top the soup with a few croutons.
There! Now you’ve made a creamy vegetable soup! See how easy it is?
* Any vegetable can be made into a soup, however, some won’t work quite as well. For example, a cucumber is a very watery vegetable and it’s typically not served warm. It is good in a gazpacho, however, which is a cold soup of sorts. Eggplant would work as a soup, but the color wouldn’t be very pretty. if that doesn’t bother you, then use eggplant. Also, I wouldn’t mix a green vegetable with an orange vegetable. If you’ve ever played with paints, you know that orange and green do not make a pretty color! Soup making is a lot about common sense!
This is a great post! I love soups, and my daughter often asks for the recipes. She gets ticked off when I just tell her to throw in this and that. You’ve really been a lot more constructive on the how too. Your soup looks so creamy and delicious!
My mother cooked the same way. But it did make me a little more adventurous in the kitchen, because you figure out that throwing in this and that really works! It’s not rocket science!
I love vegetable soup – we have it every day! Yours looks delicious…
Thank you. It’s just so simple!
Great post, Mimi. I like how you provide not just a recipe but also the parameters to create your own. For those on a diet and/or budget, even broccoli soup made from just broccoli, water and salt is tasty. With your additions, it will certainly be delicious.
Exactly. Just pure broccoli goodness. But I do love the addition of broth and a little butter. Cream isn’t even necessary!
Wow, the pictures themselves look good enough to eat. I love broccoli soup and now it’s the perfect time of year to have it warm.
One of my Christmas gifts was a little bean packet from William Sonoma with recipe suggestions for making a soup with the beans. I can’t wait to try it .
I love beany soups. And to thicken soups and make them creamy without cream, I typically add a can of white beans, well drained. There’s so much more nutrition that way, more fiber, and they’re just yummy! Plus, you can cut back on the cream, if you care…
Excellent suggestion about the white beans. Never heard of that but I’ll give it a try, thank you.
Excellent suggestion about the white beans. Never heard of that but I’ll give it a try, thank you. I also just tried to get to your pheasant post but I’m getting “page can’t be found”. I was going to mention that I’d look up recipes for you in the cookbook my daughter bought me in Italy. So many of the recipes are for pigeon. Also, my husband’s aunt always told the story of the rabbits they’d bring back for her to cook & some she couldn’t do a thing with because of all the pellets.
On the same morning I accidentally posted twice. The pheasant post comes out Monday. sorry. I’ve never made pigeon!
Lovely Mimi. I have a half gallon of rich beef stock in the freezer. I’m doing French Onion Soup this weekend.
Oh nice. A little more involved…
Great post Mimi. I love vegetable soups and in winter I always freeze a batch so it’s always there ready to go for a quick nutritious meal.
Perfect! I remember doing that as well. Why not? It’s just as easy to make a giant batch!
I love soup, pretty much any time of year, but especially in the winter! Any sort of creamy veggie one is my favorite- love the veggie flavor with more richness to it.
And it can be a hearty meal, too, which is what I love!
Excellent post Mimi! I make soup a LOT, and your basic method is spot on!
Thank you. It’s so easy, isn’t it?!!
You’re preaching to the converted here. I do add green veg to orange, zucchini and celery both work extremely well without making the colour murky. Love your ideal of making a creamy cheese topping. Good one!
Especially if you peel the zucchini, there’s no color at all!
Wow, that’s a really nice post Mimi, full of tips ššš
Looks good! Popular topic this week too. I’ve been preaching the ease of soup-making for years, if you learn how to make one you can make almost any of them.
Exactly!
I just made a delicious broccoli-cauliflower soup! I can’t wait to try your creamy broccoli soup next time.
That’s a wonderful combination!!!
Your vegetable soup looks awesome, broccoli has the best flavour :D
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
So many people hate broccoli!!! It’s so sad.