My mother used to make the most amazing cream of broccoli soup. Everyone loved it. Except those that didn’t like broccoli soup, I suppose. But a nice bowl of thick creamy broccoli soup, topped with cheese and salt and pepper… mmm!

I have wanted to try to make mom’s broccoli soup for years, but have never gotten around to it – until today.

As with most of her best recipes, this one was typed and printed back in the nineties, on our family’s first computer, a good old MS-DOS version with a crude word processing program.

Of course, 4 servings was never enough for my family, so this recipe was always quadrupled.

First step: Broccoli.

Rinse. And chop:

I don’t think it needed to be chopped so fine… but live and learn.

The recipe calls for 2 cups, so naturally I chopped 8.

I didn’t intend to quadruple it… but I did. I have always done better at cooking for several rather than one or two.

Put in a big pot with hot water, chicken bouillon (I used packets instead of cubes), a bay leaf, and chopped onion.

Bring to a boil and allow to simmer until tender, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, start the white sauce that will make the soup creamy. Melt butter in a saucepan:

Add milk or cream to the butter. I only had skim milk, which I wouldn’t recommend. Or, if I were to use it again, I would use less than it calls for, so the white sauce is thicker.

Then, stir in some flour. I only had whole wheat flour, which, again, is less than ideal for a soup like this, but I feel better knowing it’s at least healthier.

When the broccoli stock is tender, puree it in a blender, then add the stock to the white sauce and reheat.

All that remains is to serve and enjoy!

I ate mine with grated sharp cheddar, and salt and pepper.

Mmm.

Here’s the recipe so you can enjoy it yourself: