Broccoli from my garden
I have a tiny vegetable garden and my five broccoli plants are now ready to harvest. The other day I harvested this one but I couldn’t bear the idea of those rich green leaves going to waste. I boiled them and used half in a minestrone (vegetable soup) and the other half I heated up in a pan with oil, garlic and tomato…….the flavour is incredible.
Minestrone with broccoli leaves…with grated cheese and a drizzle of olive oil
Vegetable Soup (Minestrone)
Ingredients:
- 2 medium carrots
- 1 medium courgette
- 1 big potato
- 1 stick celery
- about 8 broccoli leaves (I pre-boiled them with the broccoli, but you could shred them and put them in raw) If you don’t have broccoli leaves you can use spinach or cabbage or whatever green leaves you prefer.
- 1/4 fennel bulb
- extra virgin olive oil
- salt and pepper
Method:
Chop the vegetables into similar sized pieces. Pour some oil into a heavy bottomed saucepan (just enough to barely coat the bottom of the saucepan). Put in the vegetables cover with lid and sweat on a low heat for about 20 mins. Season and add enough water (today I used the broccoli water) to cover the vegetables. Bring to the boil and then simmer for about 15 minutes. Serve with grated cheese…I use pecorino romano or grana or parmesan. I like to finish it off with a shot of extra virgin olive oil and some freshly milled black pepper.
I didn’t put the broccoli flower into the soup – only the boiled leaves, instead I served it with oil, lemon and black pepper….simply divine.
Cook with Ellen in Puglia 