Mark Hix recipe: Broccoli soup

Serves 4-6

You can make Mark's soup with any kind of broccoli (Jason Lowe)

You can make this with any kind of broccoli. If you are using the Romanesco broccoli, throw in the leaves and excess stalks, too. I've used a mixture of varieties and some diced stalks to garnish here.

1 leek, roughly chopped and washed
60g butter
300g broccoli stalks and trimmings, roughly chopped
30g plain flour
1.5ltrs hot vegetable stock
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

To garnish

A few florets of any broccoli and some diced or sliced stalks, cooked in boiling salted water

Remove the green heads and leaves from the broccoli and put aside to use at the end. In a heavy-based saucepan, cook the leek and broccoli stalks in the butter for 2-3 minutes with a lid on, removing from the heat before they colour.

Stir in the flour, then gradually stir in the stock to avoid lumps forming. Bring to the boil, season and simmer gently for 15 minutes. Add any excess green bits of broccoli and simmer for another 10 minutes, then remove from the heat.

Blend in a liquidiser until smooth and strain through a sieve if necessary. To serve, reheat the soup and add the garnish.