Silas Marner Soup

Yesterday was a day of feasting.  It was Mothering Sunday so we took Maggie, my Mum-n-Law, out for a big lunch including chocolate bread pudding with vanilla ice cream for dessert.  It was all very naughty but  nice.  Today isn't going to be a day of fasting, but a little restraint wouldn't go amiss. 

So there I was, standing with my head in the fridge, looking for something to cook for lunch.  And this is what I found:

A gnarly potato, a slightly wilted leek and a stalk of broccoli.  It all looked rather miserly so I thought I'd make Silas Marner Soup.

If you are feeling a bit like a miser after a weekend of excess, here's how to make this very economical soup:  

Peel the potato and chop it into small cubes and slice the leek into thin slices.

Now, here is the really miserly part, chop the stalk off the broccoli and put the florets back into the refrigerator.  We are only going to use the stalk. Peel the broccoli stalk to get rid of all the tough outer bit and cut into small pieces. 

Place the chopped potato, leek and broccoli stalk into a large sauce pan.  Add a stock cube and enough cold water to just cover the vegetables.  Cook the soup over a medium heat until the vegetables are very tender.

Blend everything together until you have a thick, smooth soup.  I like to use a stick blender for this process. 

I had a bit of Somerset Brie leftover in the fridge so I stirred a fat slice into the hot soup and made a few cubes of brie to float on top of my bowl of soup.  You can use a spoonful of cream cheese or even a bit of Stilton if you have it. 

Serve with a nice chunk of bread and some creamy butter.  It doesn't seem quite so miserly now, does it?