Every Christmas, we seem to buy far too much cheese. So, what could I do with that last piece of beautiful Stilton still waiting to be eaten? What else did I have in the fridge? Broccoli, spring onions and celery; it seemed like soup might be the answer and it was! This is a very easy soup to make and full of flavour. Make it for a satisfying everyday lunch with rustic chunks of crusty bread, or as a dinner party starter pimped up with crispy croutons, swirls of cream, extra crumbled cheese, chopped herbs, crushed walnuts etc. – you get the idea.

You will need…

• A large head of broccoli, chopped into pieces, stalk and all
• A bunch of spring onions, trimmed and chopped
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 sticks of celery, destrung and chopped
• 1 medium potato, peeled and chopped
• 140g Stilton cheese
• Sea salt
• Ground white pepper
• 1 tablespoon of double cream
• 20g butter
• 1.5 litres of chicken stock made with a good quality gel stockpot (I use Kallo organic)
• 1 dessertspoon of rapeseed oil

To make…

• Melt the butter and oil over a medium heat in a large saucepan.
• Add the chopped onion, celery, spring onions and potato and sweat gently for about ten minutes. It shouldn’t brown or take on any colour.
• Add the broccoli and the stock. Stir and bring it to a simmer.  Cook for ten minutes until the vegetables soften.
• Take it off the heat and blend with a stick blender until silky smooth. If you don’t want just a smooth soup, reserve some of the whole pieces of the vegetables and add them back to add extra texture after you’ve blended the rest.
• Crumble in the Stilton and stir until melted.
• Check for seasoning and adjust with salt and white pepper. The cheese and stock will already contain salt so only add more if  you think it needs it.
• Serve straightaway or cool, refrigerate and heat it up again gently when you need it.
• It freezes well – those ‘Pour and Store’ bags are perfect.

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