Rosie’s Broccoli and Almond Soup (pass it on)

It is still summer but the weather has cooled slightly so I thought a warm soup was in order. I plumped for this broccoli and almond recipe as it provides a perfect example of the way in which recipes evolve to become your own. We each take a recipe, make our own adaptations and pass it on to friends who add their own twist… and so it goes on.

This recipe was provided by my friend Rosie and Rosie first tried the recipe when she saw it on Hedgecombers.com (https://hedgecombers.com/broccoli-and-almond-soup/). You’ll see that the Hedgecombers version doesn’t use onions but Rosie’s does. Rosie also recommends adding thyme if that’s a flavour you like.

Rosie’s Broccoli and Almond Soup

Serves 4

Suitable for Vegetarian, Vegan and Gluten Free diets

Difficulty rating Very easy

Total time taken under 30 minutes

Ingredients

• One onion, chopped
• 650g broccoli, stalks and all – roughly chopped
• 50 – 60 g ground almonds – toasted
• 1 litre vegetable stock
• A little olive or rapeseed oil to cook the onion
• Salt and pepper to taste

Method

1. Heat the onion in the olive oil until it is soft.
2. Add the broccoli, stir and cover with the vegetable stock. Bring to the boil then simmer until the broccoli is cooked.
3. Blend the broccoli, add the toasted ground almonds and give it a good mix or additional buzz in the blender.
4. Reheat and serve.

My adaptation

The eagled eyed reader may notice the soup in my photograph is not quite in keeping with Rosie’s instructions. My twist involved:

• Using four small/medium shallots instead of the onion. That was just because I had shallots and didn’t want to let them go to waste.
• Adding the zest of one lemon and the juice of half a lemon when I added the toasted ground almonds.
• Decorating with a drizzle of lemon infused rapeseed oil, toasted flaked almonds and some lemon zest. I always seem to have some leftover flaked almonds in my cupboard so this was a great way of using them up.

It was absolutely delicious and I would definitely make it again. I may also try roasting my shallots, broccoli and whole almonds before adding stock and blending. Some garlic would be tasty too.

Try The Hedgecombers’ recipe, try Rosie’s or try mine. Best of all, try it your way.

Enjoy!

V x