It’s officially spring! It’s below freezing today, yes, but I totally have faith that it will be beautiful in New York very soon. We’ve had a few very lovely days these past few weeks.
Even though this is a soup post, I’m pretty excited about the end of soup season. I crave it when it’s cold, but it never fills me up. And I get angry at meals that don’t require chewing.
I look at this broccoli and potato soup, adapted from a New York Times recipe, as a transitional soup. There is some brightness from the broccoli and lemon zest that makes me feel hopeful that spring is on its way. We served this with biscuits and fish, because thatshowwedo. (soup is not a meal.)
THE INGREDIENTS
2 heads of broccoli – chop into small florets and dice the usable part of the stem
3 small Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and sliced
1 large white onion, diced
5 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 cups water
Pinch red pepper flakes
Zest of one lemon
Salt & pepper
1/2 cup Parmesan or cheddar cheese (you choose!), grated
Heat up 2 tablespoons of olive oil in your soup pot and turn on your vent fan (friendly warning!). Then place the broccoli pieces along the bottom of the soup pan and let them fry/brown on one side for about 3 minutes. When that one side is done, take them out and put them in a bowl. Season with salt. You may have to repeat this step, depending on the size of your soup pot, to get all the broccoli half-fried.
Charred broccoli
sing your same pot, put the heat on medium and add the remaining olive oil and butter. Add onions, garlic, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper to the pan and cook until translucent (~5-6 minutes). Add potato, get some of that oily goodness on them, then add the 4 cups water and a little bit more salt. Cover the pot and simmer until the potato is almost cooked (~10 minutes). Add the broccoli, and then cover again until that’s soft (~5-8 minutes).
Once everything seems cooked through, use your immersion blender or your blender/food processor to make the soup smooth. Return to pot, add lemon zest, and add grated cheese of your choice. When serving, sprinkle cheese on top. Taste, and hope to yourself that this is the last soup you’ll have until October.
