broccoli potato and shiitake soup

Yes, another soup! I love soup and I hope you do too. 😊
This one is very easy to prepare and ready in no time: just make sure you cut the potatoes in small chunks and the cooking time will be reduced considerably.

The broccoli needs just about 10 minutes to be nice and tender and while that happens you can sauté the shiitake.

Make it completely vegan by using only extra virgin olive oil instead of butter ad serve with some good sourdough multigrain bread just like I did.

I developed this recipe for my friends at Empowered Embodiement.

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Zuppa con broccoli, patate e shiitake

Serves 2-3

Ingredients:

1 onion
3 cloves of garlic
1 teaspoon of paprika, hot or mild
4 + 1 tablespoons of e.v. olive oil
1 tablespoon of butter
300 gr. raw potatoes
1 stock cube (any taste you like, I used a vegetarian one)
fresh thyme, a few sprigs
400 gr. broccoli, stalks included
sea salt
black pepper

Peel and chop the onion and 2 garlic cloves (keep 1 clove for the mushrooms).

Peel the potatoes and cut them in small pieces.

Warm 4 tablespoons of olive oil in a soup pan and add garlic, onion and paprika.

Sauté onion and garlic until soft and glazy.

Add the potatoes, the thyme (keep 1 or 2 sprigs aside for the mushrooms) and 2 litres of water. If you want to speed up the cooking process use hot water from the kettle.

Add the stock cube (or simply some salt) and leave to cook on a low flame until the potatoes are almost done.

Add the broccoli cut in chunks and cook further until they’re tender, yet not overcooked (it will take about 10 minutes). They have to stay nice and green. If you overcook them, the soup will get darker.

While the broccoli is cooking, remove any grit from the shiitake with a bit of kitchen paper or a kitchen brush and cut them in chunks. Use the stalks too: they’re beautifully fleshy and will add body to the soup.

Gently sauté the shiitake in 1 tbs of butter and 1 tbs of olive oil with the remaining peeled and chopped garlic clove plus the left-over thyme sprigs. They have to get nicely cooked and yet still firm. Season with salt and pepper and keep warm inside the pan.

Remove the thyme and blend the soup with an immersion mixer or in the blender until the it’s nice and smooth.

If you like, season further with some salt and pepper.

Serve topped with the shiitake and a drizzle of e.v. olive oil.
You can also enrich it some grated Parmesan cheese!