RCI-SP.002.0066.001
Cream of Any Vegetable Soup
There are thousands of recipes for true cream of vegetable soups, but the differences among them are subtle at best. Basically, you cook the vegetable you want with good flavorings until it's done. Then you purée it and reheat it with cream.
Prep15 min
Cook10 min
Total25 min
Servings4
Difficultyintermediate
Ingredients
- about 1 lb broccoli1 unittrimmed and cut up, to yield about 4 loosely packed cups broccoli, or the equivalent amount of cauliflower, carrots, turnips, celery, or other vegetable
- rice or 1 medium baking potato½ cuppeeled and cut into quarters
- chicken4 cupsbeef, v vegetable stock, or water
- 1 unit
- heavy or light cream or half-and-half½ to 1 cup
- minced fresh parsley leaves or chives for garnish1 unit
Method
1
Heat the chicken stock (or beef, vegetable stock, or water) in a large pot over medium-high heat until it begins to simmer.
2
Add the trimmed and cut broccoli (or other vegetable such as cauliflower, carrots, turnips, or celery) along with the rice or potato quarters to the simmering stock.
1 minutes
3
Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and simmer until the vegetables and starch are very tender, about 20 to 25 minutes.
23 minutes
4
Working in batches, transfer the soup to a blender or food processor and purée until completely smooth, being careful when handling hot liquid.
3 minutes
5
Return the puréed soup to the pot and stir in the heavy or light cream (or half-and-half), using ½ to 1 cup depending on desired richness.
2 minutes
6
Season the soup to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper, stirring well to combine.
1 minutes
7
Heat the soup through gently over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until steaming but not boiling, about 3 to 5 minutes.
4 minutes
8
Ladle the soup into serving bowls and garnish each portion with minced fresh parsley leaves or chives before serving.