Recipe - Broccoli Soup (With Tomatoes)

1 pound Broccoli
3 Garlic cloves
6 cup Water
6 Parsley sprigs
4 Strips lean bacon
6 tablespoon Olive oil
6 ounce Tomato paste; canned
Salt and pepper; to taste
Gruyere; or
Parmesan cheese; grated

Wash the broccoli thoroughly. Slice it in small pieces, discarding the
tough part of the stalks. Chop well the garlic, parsley and bacon.

Pour the olive oil into a soup pot, add the broccoli, garlic, parsley and
bacon, and saute them for a minute or two while stirring at the same time.
Add the tomato paste and 2 cups water. Stir well. Cover the pot and allow
the soup to cook for about 5 minutes.

Add the remaining water and cook the soup over medium heat for about 30
minutes. Add salt and pepper and simmer for a few minutes. Just before
serving, puree the soup in a blender.

Soup can be served hot or cold. If it is served hot, garnish the soup at
the last minute with some grated cheese. When served cold, it should be
refrigerated for at least 2 hours, and instead of the grated cheese, one
may add 1 teaspoon sour cream to each serving bowl as a garnish.

Source "Nothing makes a soup moment like a rainy day" By ANN BURGER, Post
and Courier Food Editor, Sun, 08Feb1998.
http://www.charleston.net/pub/entertain/cookin/soup0208.htm

Notes: This tomatoy version comes from "Twelve Months of Monastery Soups,"
by Brother VictorAntoine d'AvilaLatourrette (Broadway Books, $16).

Recipe by: Twelve Months of Monastery Soups

Posted to MCRecipe Digest by KitPATh phannema@wizard.ucr.edu on Feb 08,
1998