Broccoli Cheddar Soup in Bread Bowls
Thick, golden cheddar soup with little broccoli florets and carrot, served in toasted sourdough bread bowls.
Recipe in testing: I'm cooking it in my TM7™ and will update the steps and the photo with my own.
Broccoli cheddar soup in a bread bowl is a café classic: a thick, golden soup full of sharp cheddar, with small broccoli florets and a little carrot in every spoonful. Eating it out of a crusty sourdough loaf, then tearing into the soaked bread at the end, is half the fun.
The Thermomix® TM7™ grates a block of cheddar, which melts much smoother than bagged shreds, then cooks the broccoli in broth and blends part of it with half-and-half for a creamy base. Some florets stay whole, and the cheese melts in at a gentle 80°C (175°F) so the soup stays silky.
Made in the Thermomix® TM7™
Broccoli Cheddar Soup in Bread Bowls
Makes: About 1.5 L (6 cups), 4 bread bowls
- Prep20 min
- Cook35 min
- Total55 min
- Serves4
Ingredients
For the soup
For the bread bowls
To serve
Instructions
- Place the cheddar in the dry mixing bowl, grate 8 sec/speed 6 and transfer to a bowl. Set aside 50 g (1/2 cup) for the top.
- Place the onion, carrot and garlic in the mixing bowl and chop 5 sec/speed 5. Scrape down the sides, add the butter and sauté 4 min/120°C (250°F)/speed 1.
- Add the flour and sauté 1 min/120°C (250°F)/speed 1. Add the broth and mix 10 sec/speed 4, so the flour dissolves.
- Add the broccoli, mustard, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Place the simmering basket on the lid instead of the measuring cup and cook 12 min/100°C (212°F)/reverse/speed soft, until the broccoli is tender.
- While the soup cooks, preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Cut a lid off each loaf, hollow it out leaving a 2 cm (3/4 in) wall, and toast the bowls and lids in the oven for 6 to 8 minutes.
- With a slotted spoon, lift out about a third of the broccoli florets and set them aside. Add the half-and-half, put the measuring cup in place and blend 20 sec/speed 4-8, increasing speed gradually.
- Add the cheddar and the reserved florets and cook 3 min/80°C (175°F)/reverse/speed 1, until the cheese melts. Taste and adjust the salt.
- Ladle the soup into the bread bowls and top with the reserved cheddar and a little shredded carrot. Serve with the bread lids on the side.
Tips
- Once the cheese is in, keep the soup below a boil. Too much heat makes cheddar grainy, so reheat leftovers at 80°C (175°F) as well.
- Save the bread you scoop out: dry it in the oven and grind it into breadcrumbs, or cube it for croutons.
- No bread bowls? Serve the soup in regular bowls with crusty bread. It keeps 3 days in the fridge and thickens as it sits, so loosen it with a splash of milk.
