Broccoli & Cheddar Soup

📝 Ingredients

• 600 g frozen broccoli florets
• 1 brown onion (about 150 g)
• 1 carrot (about 100 g)
• 1 garlic clove
• 40 g unsalted butter
• 40 g plain flour
• 750 ml semi-skimmed milk
• 1 vegetable stock cube + 250 ml hot water
• 150 g cheddar, in a block
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard + 1 pinch of nutmeg
• 160 g stale farmhouse bread (about 4 slices)
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• Salt, black pepper

🍴 Utensils

• Large pot
• Whisk
• Stick blender
• Frying pan
• Grater
• Wooden spoon

📖 Steps

1. Finely slice the onion, peel and grate the carrot, and chop the garlic. Coarsely grate the cheddar. Cut the bread into 1.5 cm cubes. Dissolve the stock cube in 250 ml hot water.
2. Heat the olive oil in the frying pan over a medium heat and toast the bread cubes for 5 to 6 min, stirring often, until golden and crispy. Set aside on a plate.
3. In the casserole pot, melt the butter over a medium-low heat without letting it brown. Add the onion and carrot and cook for 5 min, stirring, until soft and translucent, then add the garlic for 30 s.
4. Sprinkle over the flour and stir for 2 min with the wooden spoon: the roux should coat the vegetables and smell biscuity, without colouring.
5. Gradually pour in the milk, whisking constantly to avoid lumps, then the stock. Bring to a simmer, stirring: the soup will thicken noticeably. Add the frozen broccoli and cook for 10 to 12 min over a medium-low heat, stirring often as milk tends to catch.
6. Check that the broccoli stalks crush easily, then take off the heat. Blitz about half the soup with a stick blender, tilting the pot, to get a smooth soup that still has some nice chunks.
7. Still off the heat, add the cheddar in three batches, stirring until each handful has melted before adding the next. Add the mustard and nutmeg, and season with salt and pepper. Don't let it boil again: the cheese would turn grainy.
8. Serve piping hot in bowls with a grind of black pepper, and scatter with the croutons at the last minute so they stay crunchy.