This recipe is extremely versatile; the only vegetable you MUST have (for obvious reasons), is the broccoli. Everything else can be substituted with whatever you happen to have the fridge (zucchini, peppers, cauliflower, asparagus, etcetera).
This soup is great as left-overs: just as soup, reheated (or cold!), as pasta sauce, as a dip for crusty bread, poured over cold pasta, too…yum. It’s really quite delicious.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 tablespoon oil (olive or cooking oil is fine)
- 1 head broccoli, florets divided
- ¼ red onion, finely chopped
- ¼ Vidalia (sweet) onion, roughly chopped
- 2 sticks celery, finely chopped
- 2 carrots, peeled, finely chopped or grated
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 2 tablespoons freshly chopped parsley
- 6 tablespoons flour
- 3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 1 cup white wine or champagne
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 cup regular/table cream
Directions
- Melt butter with oil in large, heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add broccoli, onion, celery, carrots, garlic, and parsley. Cover; cook until onion and broccoli are tender, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes.
- Add flour and stir until cooked and then add the chicken broth and wine. Cover and simmer vegetables 40 minutes.
- Season with salt and pepper and thyme. When ready to serve, add cream and cook through – about 5 minutes. Serve with bread or rolls to scoop up every last drop of soup. Do not omit the wine — trust me, I did this the once and it just didn’t taste the same. The wine affords it a very rich, slightly tangy taste…which is really a big part of the soup for me.(http://www.foodnetwork.ca/recipes/Vegetables/recipe.html?dishid=9847)