Potato Soup with Broccoli, Shallot and Mascarpone

Potato Soup with Broccoli, Shallot and Mascarpone

I think this is my one hundredth blog entry. Looking back over the soups I've made from the different sections of The Soup Book I realised I was falling behind in the Winter Vegetables section. A mere 31% of the forty-five recipes. I'd better get on with it and catch up. Hence last weekend's and this weekend's choices. Yesterday I made the potato soup with broccoli, shallot and mascarpone from Marie-Pierre Moine's recipe. The ingredients include shallots, floury potatoes (I used Roosters), broccoli and mascarpone (Moine suggests Caerphilly or Wensleydale as substitutes). I got out the spouse's new saute pan and set about my task.

I cooked the shallots and potatoes in butter and oil, then added boiling water and cooked for a further ten minutes. Next in were the broccoli florets. It took a further twenty-five minutes for these and the potato pieces to become tender (smaller potato chunks next time). Then into the blender for a quick whizz before straining back into the pan through a sieve. Time consuming. To finish off, I added a little more water and stirred in the mascarpone. The recipe says to serve the soup with croutes spread with blue cheese. As I had eaten a lot of junk yesterday, I didn't bother with the croute but dropped in a piece of Roquefort.

This soup would not be among my favourites. It was rather bland, redeemed only by the addition of the sharp blue cheese at the end. That said, if I was stuck for something to do with some sorry looking potatoes and some sorry looking potatoes and broccoli, I might re-visit the recipe.

I did take photos but someone has taken the camera connector or else I haven't looked in the right places. Spouse, where are you when I need you!

P.S. A week later I have added the photos of the soup in progress.

The broccoli has been added to the potato and shallot mix.

The mascarpone is added to the liquidised soup mix.

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