Roasted broccoli and walnut soup

Robert Gonzal
Robert Gonzal @robert
Vancouver BC

Our neighbour had too much broccoli and generously gave us three large heads. Now, I like broccoli as much as the next person, but that's a lot of broccoli. Rather than cooking it a bit at a time and risk having it spoil before we got through it all, and with the weather outside being miserable and rainy besides, I decided to turn the lot into a pot of comforting soup. For extra flavour, I added roasted garlic and walnuts to the mix. It was a pretty tasty solution to our broccoli overage.

Roasted broccoli and walnut soup

Our neighbour had too much broccoli and generously gave us three large heads. Now, I like broccoli as much as the next person, but that's a lot of broccoli. Rather than cooking it a bit at a time and risk having it spoil before we got through it all, and with the weather outside being miserable and rainy besides, I decided to turn the lot into a pot of comforting soup. For extra flavour, I added roasted garlic and walnuts to the mix. It was a pretty tasty solution to our broccoli overage.

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Ingredients

1 hr 15 mins
6 servings
  1. 3 headsbroccoli
  2. 1 headgarlic, whole, unpeeled
  3. 1onion, chopped
  4. 1/4 cupbrandy
  5. 1/2 tspground cumin
  6. 6 cupschicken stock
  7. 1 cuproasted walnut halves
  8. 1 cupheavy cream
  9. Greek yogurt or sour cream, for garnish

Cooking Instructions

1 hr 15 mins
  1. 1

    Preheat your oven to 400 F. Chop the broccoli into large chunks (a bit bigger than bite-sized). Don't worry about uniformity, they'll all get blitzed anyway. Throw the broccoli into a large mixing bowl and drizzle with a good amount of olive oil (I actually used leftover bacon grease from breakfast). Add a few sprinkles of salt and toss to coat. Spread the broccoli out on a foil-lined baking sheet.

  2. 2

    Lop the top off the head of garlic; just enough to expose the cloves inside. Wrap the garlic head in foil, with the chopped part open. Drizzle the garlic with a bit of olive oil (or bacon grease) and add a pinch of salt. Nestle the garlic in amongst the broccoli and put the tray in the oven for 1 hr to roast.

  3. 3

    Add a glug of olive oil and a tbsp butter to a medium pot on medium heat. Add the onion and let cook 2 or 3 minutes until softened and starting to brown. Carefully pour in the brandy and let cook 1 minute until most of the liquid boils off. Break up the garlic head you just roasted and squeeze the garlic out of the cloves and into the pot. Sprinkle in the cumin and add the roasted broccoli. Stir to combine.

  4. 4

    Pour the stock into the pot and turn the heat down to low once it reaches a simmer. Season with a pinch of salt and a few grinds of black pepper.

  5. 5

    Add the walnuts to a small pan and put it on medium-low heat. Remove the nuts once they're warmed though and smelling roasty, about 3 or 4 minutes.

  6. 6

    Add most of the walnuts to the pot of soup. Using an immersion blender, blitz the soup thoroughly. It won't get completely smooth, but it shouldn't be chunky either. Stir in the cream, then check the seasoning. Turn the heat back up to medium and bring it to a simmer one last time before serving. Garnish with the remaining walnuts and a dollop of Greek yogurt or sour cream.

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Robert Gonzal
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Vancouver BC
Married dad of 1. Food fanatic. Chef's Table addict. The kitchen is my happy place.
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