Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy-bottomed saucepan or stockpot
• •Stick blender or countertop blender
• •Ladle
• •Vegetable peeler

Instructions

1. 1

   Soften the base

   Melt the butter in a heavy-bottomed pan over a low heat. Add the onion and celery with a pinch of salt. Stir them through and let them sweat gently for eight to ten minutes, lid on, stirring once or twice. You want them soft and translucent, giving off that sweet, quiet smell that means the kitchen is working. No colour. If they start to catch, the heat wants turning down.

   Don't skip the celery. It's easy to leave out, but it adds a background note that you'd miss if it weren't there. One stick is enough.
2. 2

   Add broccoli and stock

   Add the potato and the broccoli (stalks and florets, keeping a few small florets back for the end). Pour in the stock. It should just about cover everything. If it doesn't, add a splash of water. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook for fifteen minutes, lid slightly ajar, until the broccoli is tender and the potato gives way to a knife without resistance. Don't overcook the broccoli into greyness. You want it soft but still green.

3. 3

   Blend until smooth

   Take the pan off the heat. Blend until smooth with a stick blender, or in batches in a jug blender if that's what you have. The texture should be velvety and even, no lumps, no grit from the stalks. If it feels too thick, loosen it with a little more stock. You're after something that pours from the ladle in a slow, easy stream.

4. 4

   Melt in the Stilton

   Return the pan to a low heat. Crumble in the Stilton, stirring as it melts into the soup. It will go from lumpy to smooth in a minute or so, and the colour will shift from bright green to something deeper and more serious. Taste it. The cheese brings its own salt, so go carefully. You may not need any more. A few grinds of black pepper. That's it.

   Start with 100g of Stilton and taste before adding the rest. The cheese is bold and it's easier to add more than to take it back. You want the soup to taste of broccoli first, Stilton second.
5. 5

   Finish and serve

   While the soup warms through, blanch the reserved broccoli florets in boiling salted water for two minutes, then drain. Ladle the soup into warm bowls. Scatter the blanched florets over the top with a few crumbles of Stilton broken straight from the block. Serve with bread that can stand up to it: something crusty, torn, not sliced.

Chef Tips

• •Use the broccoli stalks. Peel off the tough outer layer with a vegetable peeler and chop the pale core. It's sweet and tender and has as much flavour as the florets. Throwing it away is a waste of something good.
• •Stilton varies. A young, crumbly Stilton will melt smoothly and taste milder. A more mature, sticky one will be stronger and saltier. Neither is wrong, but know what you have and adjust accordingly. Taste the cheese before it goes in. That tells you everything.
• •If you haven't got Stilton, a good Roquefort will work, or any blue cheese with enough character to hold its own against the broccoli. What you're after is that savoury, salty richness. Avoid anything too mild. It will vanish into the soup and you'll wonder what the point was.
• •This soup reheats well but thickens as it sits. Keep a little extra stock aside and use it to loosen the soup when you warm it through the next day.

Advance Preparation

• •The soup can be made up to the blending stage and refrigerated for two days. Reheat gently and stir in the Stilton just before serving for the freshest flavour.
• •Freezes well for up to two months without the Stilton. Defrost, reheat, and add the cheese when it's warm. The cheese needs to melt into hot soup, not sit in a freezer.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 385g)