This delicious cream of broccoli soup has a bit of a twist. It is packed with healthy goodies like garlic, tomato and spinach.
Ingredients
1 tablespoon butter
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 stalks of celery, chopped fine
2 carrots, finely diced
1 onion, diced
3/4 teaspoon dried rosemary
2 cups chicken stock
2 potatoes cut into small cubes
2 tomatoes, chopped
2 tablespoons tomato paste
3 tablespoons flour
3 cups milk
1 cup broccoli, chopped
2 cups fresh spinach, chopped
salt and pepper to taste
Method:Melt butter over medium heat in a large pot. Cook garlic, celery, onions, carrots and rosemary until onions are softened (about 5 minutes). Add stock and potatoes. Bring to a boil. Lower heat to medium and cook with lid on for about 8 minutes to cook potatoes, stirring often. Add tomatoes and tomato paste and stir to mix well. Cook, covered, for 5 minutes. Whisk flour into milk and stir gradually into the pot (make sure heat is at medium). Add broccoli. Cook for 5 minutes until broccoli is just done. Add spinach and cook until just wilted, stirring often. Season with salt and pepper to taste. (You will probably not need much salt if you use prepared broth or dried broth cubes so taste it first)
Variations:
Use low fat milk to lower the fat content of the recipe.
For a vegetarian broccoli garlic vegetable soup, replace the chicken broth with an equal amount of vegetable stock.
Replace the rosemary with an equal amount of thyme for a different flavor.
Use baby spinach leaves for a more delicate appearance and flavor.
Add grated cheddar cheese on top of soup when ready to serve to turn this into a broccoli cheddar cheese soup recipe.
