MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.06
 
      Title: Broccoli And Potato Soup
 Categories: Italian, Soups
      Yield: 6 Servings
 
      1 lg Onion; very thinly sliced
           Salt
      3 tb Butter
      2 lb Broccoli
      1 cl Garlic; peeled and very
           -thinly sliced
      4 lg Boiling potatoes; peeled;
           -washed, and cut into small
           -dice
      2 c  Homemade meat broth -OR-
      1    Bouillon cube
           Black pepper; freshly ground
      6    Basil leaves; up to 8, torn
           -into small pieces
     75 g  Parmigiano-Reggiano; freshly
           -grated
 
  Put the onion, a large pinch of salt, all the olive oil, and butter
  in a saucepan, turn on the heat to medium low, and cover the pan.
  Cook until the onion is completely tender and has become coloured a
  light nut brown.
  
  Detach the broccoli florets from the stems, keeping the stems aside to
  serve boiled in olive oil. Wash the florets under cold running water.
  
  When the onion is cooked, add the garlic and leave the pan uncovered.
  Cook, stirring, for about 1 minute without letting it become
  coloured. Add the broccoli florets, a generous pinch of salt, and
  cook, turning the florets over from time to time until they feel
  tender at the pricking of a fork.
  
  Add the diced potatoes and cook for about 5 minutes, turning them
  over frequently. Then add the broth or 575 ml water together with the
  bouillon cube. Cook until some of the potatoes dissolve as you stir
  them. Add 1 or 2 tb water if you find the soup becoming too dense.
  The final consistency should be loosely creamy, runny rather than
  thick.
  
  Taste and correct for salt, and add a liberal grinding of black
  pepper. Swirl in the basil, the Parmigiano-Reggiano, the menaining
  butter, and serve at once.
  
  Tips:
  
  If you want to use the stems in the soup, wash them, pare away their
  tough outer layer and cut them into 5 mm pieces. It will, however,
  become a different soup in consistency as well as appearance.
  
  Recipe by Marcella Cucina by Marcella Hazan, 1997
 
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