Simple Roasted Broccoli Soup [Zack]

Sometimes simplicity is best in cooking.  You don't need 23984324 ingredients to make a good soup.  Often I get caught up with adding tons of ingredients and trying to make things fancy.  But if you have good-quality broccoli, it can often speak for itself.

As mentioned frequently on this website, if you have your own homemade chicken stock, it will take this simple soup over the top.

Process:

Pre-heat your oven to 350 F / 175 C.  Take your broccoli head and cut it apart so you have individual florettes.  Don't throw away the stem!  Slice it into 1/4 inch chips and roast that too - it has great flavor.

Toss all of the broccoli with some olive oil on a baking sheet.  Lightly salt and pepper it.  Roast in the oven for 20 minutes or until it develops some color.

While that is roasting, dice an onion and a clove of garlic.  In a large pot, saute the onion first in 1 T of olive oil for 4 minutes over medium heat, then add the garlic for 1 minute.  Add in your roasted broccoli.

Next, and chicken stock.

Cook until it simmers, wait 5 minutes, and blend it all.  If you don't have an immersion stick blender, please be careful with your blender.  Hot liquid has a tendency to fly out and could scald you.

Return it back to the pot so it remains warm until you serve.

Ingredients:

1 large head broccoli
1 small or medium onion
1 large clove garlic
2 cups chicken stock
1 T olive oil
salt
pepper

Optional additions:
-  grated cheddar cheese
-  1/2 cup heavy cream
-  roasted leeks
-  add spinach when you add in the chicken stock

Song:  Dana Carvey's song from his standup - Chopping Broccoli