It’s freakn’ cold outside! Why don’t we warm up with a little “creamy” soup! Here’s a recipe using my very own awesome vegan cheese brand, Nafsika’s Garden. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch of broccoli (2 or 3 bouquets)
• 2 tbsp of olive oil
• 1 large yellow onion, finely minced
• 2-3 garlic cloves, finely minced
• ¼ cup of all purpose flour
• ¼ tsp of freshly ground black pepper
• 4 cups of vegetable stock
• 1 cup of cooking non-dairy cream (soy, rice, coconut, oat based, etc), and more for serving
• one 200g cheddar block from Nafsika’s Garden, grated
• salt to taste
• cayenne pepper, to garnish

Method:

1. Trim and finely chop the broccoli bouquets, keeping the stems and florets separately. You should have about 2-3 cups of each.
2. At medium-high heat, sauté the onion in olive oil until translucent, for about 4 minutes.
3. Add the garlic and the broccoli stems and cook for about 3 minutes.
4. Add the flour and the pepper, mix thoroughly to well coat the broccoli stem and onion, and then slowly add the vegetable stock and the plant-based cream. Bring to a low boil and simmer at low-medium heat until the stems are fork-tender, for about 4 minutes.
5. Add the chopped florets and continue simmer for about 6 minutes, or until the florets are tender.
6. With a hand mixer, blend thoroughly until smooth (or you can keep some texture to your preference), add ¾ of the grated cheddar to the soup (keep the rest to garnish your soup) and simmer 2-3 more minutes at low heat. Adjust the salt to taste (depending on how salty your veggie stock might be).
7. Serve and top with extra non-dairy cream and cheddar, and a dash or two of cayenne pepper if desired.