Recipe - Italian Broccoli Soup With Pasta

1 lg Bunch broccolli
2 tablespoon Olive oil
2 lg Cloves garlic cut or sliced up thin
Dried red pepper flakes
To taste, dont overdo
2 cup Chicken broth
2/3 cup Tiny soup pasta( peperini )
Salt and pepper
Parmesan reggiano to taste

Separate florets from stalks of broccoli. Chop stalks and cook in salted
boiling water for 2 or 3 minutes. then add florets and cook 2 minutes more
or long enough that they turn dark green. Drain but reserve 2 cups cooking
water ( only if you do not plan to use chicken broth ! ) Saute garlic and
pepper flakes in olive oil until garlic starts to become golden. Add
brocoli and stir to coat well with the oil. The florets should be crisp
tender. Remove them with slotted spoon and set aside.Puree the remaining
contents of the pan including the oil with a few onunces of the reserved
florets. Bring the chicken stock to a boil with 1 cup of reserved brocoli
water and add soup pasta. Cook for 5 minutes. add the garlic broccoli puree
and cook 5 more minutes. Keep adding a bit more broccoli water if soup is
getting to thick. Finally add the reserved broccoli florets and heat
through. serve with the cheese on the side. Good with a crusty bread and
red wine to make a meal by itself.
Posted to MMRecipes Digest V3 #205

Date: Tue, 30 Jul 1996 07:28:08 PST

From: jlewis1@juno.com (julie l lewis)