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Broccoli, Potato, Cheese Soup for St. Patrick’s Day

La Soupe aux Brocolis, Pomme de terre, et Fromage

I posted this last year and I am posting it again, in case you missed it.  It’s a warm, hearty soup.  Soul food.  Comforting.  Whether you’re Irish, or French, or not!

In celebration of all things Irish and green, this is the perfect soup to serve for St. Patrick’s Day or any day.  It offers a nice, greenish color and it’s full of potatoes, like Ireland, before the Great Potato Famine.  The consistency is thick and creamy, but there is no cream involved.  Only cheese.  Lots of cheese and puréed vegetables.  Simple to make and very delicious.  

These are the main ingredients – Broccoli, potatoes, onions and cheese.

Melt the butter in a stock pot and add the onions and garlic.  Stir and cook until soft.  I am a lover of sweet, Vidalia onions, so if I forget to mention it in any recipe, or unless I state otherwise, I am using Vidalia onions.  Use your favorite onion.  “Ogres like onions.  Onions have layers.  Ogres have layers.”  Name that movie!

Onions and garlic are cooking.  Please do not zoom in on this picture searching for the garlic.  You won’t find it.  It’s not in there yet.  I forgot to add it until after I took the picture.  If you don’t like garlic, you can omit it.  But I love garlic.  It’s in the next picture.

I love this smell – onions and garlic frying in butter.

The garlic is in there now.  You just can’t see it.  Add the chicken broth.  Homemade broth is best.  You may use canned broth.  I often use bouillon cubes and water because I always have bouillon in the pantry.

Add the cubed potatoes.  Look at the buttery goodness floating on top.  You need 2 – 2.5 pounds of potatoes.  If you have a scale, you can weigh them.  If you have a new 5 pound bag of potatoes, dump them all out, count them, and put half of them back in the bag.  Peel and cube the remaining potatoes.  Use 4 or 5 baking potatoes, depending on their size, about 4 – 5 cups.  It’s soup.  Use what you have and what you like.  So easy.

While potatoes are cooking, cut broccoli into bite-sized pieces and cook until tender.  Steam or microwave the broccoli.  I microwave it in a bowl with about 1/4 cup of water, and cover the bowl with waxed paper.  This is virtually all of the cooking the broccoli will get, so if you do not like crispy broccoli in your soup, cook it thoroughly.  I like mine to maintain a little of its texture in the soup.

Add the broccoli to the soup.

Scoop about 1/2 or 2/3 of the potatoes and broccoli out of the soup and place them in a blender or food processor.  Purée.  If you prefer, you can scoop all of the chunks of broccoli and potatoes into the blender to purée.  I prefer to leave about half of the vegetable chunks in my soup.  Partially chunky or all puréed.  Blender or food processor.  It’s your choice.  It’s your soup.  It’s your world.

Pour the puréed veggies back into the soup.  Stir to combine.

Add the cheese.  I used a cheddar blend, but feel free to use any cheese that you love.  Not American processed cheese food, please.  REAL cheese.  Stir until cheese melts.

Add salt and pepper to taste.  Serve with a crusty baguette and a salad if you’re French, or with your corned beef if you’re Irish, and enjoy!

“Only the pure of heart can make a good soup.”  — Ludwig van Beethoven

Let’s go and make a good soup!  Une bonne soupe!

~FTW

Broccoli, Potato, Cheese Soup Recipe

• 1 sweet onion chopped, about 2 cups
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 3 Tablespoons butter
• 4 – 5 cups peeled, cubed potatoes
• 5 cups water
• 4 chicken bouillon cubes
• 3 cups fresh broccoli cut into bite-sized pieces
• 3 cups of cheddar cheese

In a large stock pot, melt butter and sauté onion and garlic.  Add water and bouillon cubes.  Add potatoes.  Cover and cook on medium heat for about 15 minutes or until potatoes are cooked.

While potatoes are cooking, chop and cook broccoli.  Then add it to the soup.

Remove about half of the potatoes and broccoli from the soup and purée in a blender or food processor.  Pour puréed mixture back into the soup.

Add cheese.  Heat all until cheese is melted.  Enjoy!