Broccoli and taleggio soup

Unless you've had your eyes and ears firmly closed of late, you can't fail to miss the weather currently plaguing Edinburgh. Note my deliberate use of the word 'plaguing' as although the two days I got off work last week due to the white stuff did not go unnotticed, I am now, as I'm sure everyone else is, growing rather tired of the various challenges thwarting my attempts do even the most simple of tasks. Exhibit A: I can't get my car moving, and it hasn't moved for a week now, leading me to believe that it will be some time yet before I embark upon another 'Mini Adventure'.

But alas, I feel now is the time to encourage my negativity to thaw out, and what better to help melt my mood than a piping hot bowl of soup. This recipe was born of a lack of stilton, and an abundance of taleggio cheese. I adore the versatility of taleggio cheese, and always have some in my fridge to accompany my other diet staples, wine and olives.

Broccoli and taleggio cheese are two ingredients that when put together produce a vibrant green winter warmer, guaranteed to lift a snow induced mood.

So here we have it, broccoli and taleggio soup. To get started you need:

600g of broccoli

2 carrots

2 sticks of celery

2 onions

1 clove of garlic

200g of taleggio cheese

1.5l of chicken or vegetable stock

Olive oil

Now lets make some soup!

1. Chop the onions, carrots, celery and garlic and sauté with a good glug of olive oil until the vegetables have softened (this should take around 10-15mins).

2. Chop the broccoli and add to the pan with the stock. Boil for around 10 minutes, until the broccoli is cooked and soft enough to blend. Whilst the broccoli is cooking, add the cheese to a clean bowl, and melt over a pan of boiling water until lovely and oozy.

3. Leave the cheese to one side and blend the rest of the soup until you have a smooth consistency. Once the soup has been blended, stir in the melted taleggio. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

The ingredients above should give you 4-6 servings. I would love to hear how people think this compares to the classic broccoli and stilton, so if you have any thoughts, please let me know.