Creamy Broccoli Soup with Pumpkin Seeds
Today I have a recipe for a velvety smooth cream of broccoli soup with pumpkin seeds, which comes from the recipes for “Autumn Boost” in the Diet & Training by Ann app. It’s a healthy, vitamin-packed soup that perfectly warms and strengthens the body, perfect for colder days. The subtle flavour of broccoli and the crunch of pumpkin seeds make this a dish you will love for its simplicity and distinct flavour. Try it yourself and feel the power of autumn boost.
Preparation
I cut the bread into cubes and then toasted it in a dry pan with the pumpkin seeds. I divided the broccoli into florets and cooked them al dente in the broth along with the onion. Then I added the garlic, ginger and olive oil and blended until smooth. I served it topped with croutons, pumpkin seeds and a dollop of cheese.
Al dente is a colour instruction
The word al dente in a soup that gets blended anyway looks like a slip, and it is the most important word in the method. Broccoli cooked past the point of tenderness turns from bright green to grey-olive and develops the sulphurous smell everyone associates with overcooked brassicas, and blending fixes neither.
Five to seven minutes in simmering stock is enough for florets. Test with a knife tip rather than by the clock: slight resistance means stop. If the soup has already gone dull, nothing brings the colour back, so this is the one step to watch rather than walk away from.
Garlic and ginger go in after the cooking
Both are added at the end, with the olive oil, immediately before blending rather than boiled with the broccoli. A few seconds in hot soup is enough to take the raw edge off them while keeping the sharpness that makes this soup taste of something.
Boiled for five minutes with the florets they would turn flat and sweet, and the two slices of fresh ginger in particular would disappear entirely. Grate or slice the ginger thinly so the blender can deal with it: ginger fibres survive a blender better than almost anything else in a soup.
One cup of stock is deliberately little
Half a broccoli against a single cup of stock gives a thick, spoonable cream rather than a soup you drink, which is what velvety means here. The florets also release their own water as they cook, so the pot holds more liquid at the end than at the start.
Keep a few tablespoons of stock back rather than adding everything, and judge the thickness at the blending stage. Blend longer than feels necessary, since a cream soup is judged almost entirely on texture and the last thirty seconds is where smooth happens.
Croutons and seeds are toasted dry, and go on last
The bread and pumpkin seeds share one dry pan with no oil, which is why the recipe toasts them together: the seeds take about the same time as the cubes and both are done when they smell nutty and the seeds start to pop.
They go on in the bowl, never into the pot. Croutons soften within a minute in hot soup and pumpkin seeds within a few, and the crunch against a smooth cream is the whole point of putting them there. The ricotta goes on at the same moment, as a dollop rather than stirred through, so it melts slowly as you eat.
Keeping it
The soup keeps three days in the fridge and thickens there, so loosen it with stock or water when reheating rather than boiling it down. Reheat gently: a hard boil dulls the green further.
It freezes for three months, but freeze the base only. Toast fresh croutons and seeds when you serve it, which takes two minutes and is the difference between the dish as intended and a bowl of green purée.
Creamy broccoli soup with pumpkin seeds
Ingredients
Method
- Cut the bread into cubes and toast it in a dry pan together with the pumpkin seeds, until both smell nutty.
- Divide the broccoli into florets and cook them al dente in the stock with the onion, about 5 to 7 minutes.
- Add the garlic, the thinly sliced ginger and the olive oil off the boil.
- Blend until completely smooth, holding a little stock back to judge the thickness.
- Serve topped with the croutons, pumpkin seeds and a dollop of ricotta.
Notes
Frequently asked questions
Because it is a colour instruction, not a texture one. Broccoli cooked past tenderness turns from bright green to grey-olive and develops the sulphurous smell of overcooked brassicas, and blending fixes neither. Five to seven minutes for florets, testing with a knife tip.
At the end, with the olive oil, immediately before blending. A few seconds in hot soup takes the raw edge off while keeping the sharpness. Boiled with the florets they turn flat and sweet, and the two slices of ginger would disappear entirely.
Yes, and it is deliberately little. Half a broccoli to one cup gives a thick, spoonable cream rather than a soup you drink, and the florets release their own water as they cook. Hold a few tablespoons back and judge the thickness when you blend.
Together in one dry pan with no oil. The seeds take about the same time as the bread cubes and both are done when they smell nutty and the seeds start to pop.
The soup keeps three days in the fridge and freezes for three months, but freeze the base only. Toast fresh croutons and seeds when you serve it, since they soften within a minute in hot soup and the crunch is the point. This recipe comes from the Autumn Boost plan in the Diet & Training by Ann app.
Comments No Comments
Join the discussion…