About this time of year, hedgehogs begin to stir, shivering their bristles and stretching out a little foot or two, in readiness to wake up after their winter slumber. All of which serves as a handy metaphor for this blog which, having snoozed through the dark, short days of December and January, is now ready to spring back into action. (I could at this point have just confessed to being busy, knackered and neglectful but, well, everyone loves a hedgehog, don’t they?)
On the other hand, the kale in my garden is not showing any signs of spring friskiness. Planted too late in the season to grow into anything much, it still cowers in its pots, a bonsai tree of baby leaves. Fortunately kale of any kind is on trend right now and so, rooting about for something to zhuzh up a Stilton and Broccoli Soup, the answer was right there. Enjoy your daily portion of SIRT-rich, superfood, blah blah blah, with a sumptuous spicy seam of Stilton.
If it seems that I’m creeping back into hibernation (or, indeed, aestivation, which I once found out is the summer equivalent) please feel free to poke me with a stick.*
* Obviously I in no way advocate poking hedgehogs with sticks.
Ingredients
1 onion, finely chopped
A knob of butter and a big glug of olive oil
200g of kale and broccoli, in any combination you like, chopped
200g potato, peeled and diced
700ml chicken or vegetable stock
50g Stilton cheese, crumbled
Fry the onion in the oil and butter until soft and slightly coloured. Add the vegetables and potatoes and stir fry for a couple of minutes to cover them in the butter and oil.
Pour in the hot stock, bring it to the boil and simmer for 15 minutes. Blend it using a hand blender or normal blender until you get the required consistency. Sprinkle in the Stilton and stir through until it melts.
Fromage Homage 
Welcome back 🙂
Thank you!
I shall be cutting myself a stout stick tomorrow – I was wondering where you’d got to. If it’s any consolation our kale looks equally titchy – but it still tastes good. Nice soup. 🙂
Ouch to the stout stick. Baby kale is particularly trendy now so that’s my excuse.
You should come and visit us again when I haven’t got tunnel vision about a work project. Him Outdoors will have loads of spare seedlings soon. Lx
Sounds good. I am growing some of those gnarly ugly Italian tomatoes which I am sure would do fantastically well in your greenhouse (rather than my soggy, exposed allotment…) x
I love those for cooking with – we call them Big Uglies but I’m sure they have a more glamorous name.
Well, hello again. I’ve missed you. I’d better celebrate your new-found friskiness by making this soup – it looks good.
Looks yummy. And I’m delighted to see you’re back. 🙂
Thank you. Good to be back 🙂
Soup made and devoured – absolutely wonderful.
Glad you liked it! I bet your boys didn’t 😉