Herbed Broccoli Soup with Cheesy Polenta Croutons

Ingredients

For herbed broccoli soup
• 1 head (250g) broccoli, stems and florets
• 1 (115g) potato, peeled and coarsely chopped
• 1 6" celery stick, diced
• 1/4 cup frozen peas (for sweetness and nice green color)
• 1 shallot, roughly chopped (heaped 1/4 cup)
• 3/4" piece ginger
• 750 ml stock or water
• 1/3 cup sour cream (completely optional)
• a pinch each of dried thyme, basil and oregano
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp butter
Cheesy herbed polenta croutons
• 1/2 cup cornmeal
• 2 cups water
• a pinch of dried oregano
• 1 tbsp butter
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 .5 tbsp Parmesan cheese

Instructions

1. Heat oil and butter in a saucepan over medium heat until the butter melts.
2. Add shallot, celery and ginger, cook, stirring occasionally, until softened.
3. Stir in broccoli, peas and potatoes. Add stock ( or water), salt, pepper and herbs. Bring it to boil.
4. Reduce heat to medium. Cover and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes.
5. Carefully transfer mixture to a high speed blender. Puree the soup with sour cream (if using, I mostly add lemon juice as per taste) until smooth.
6. Return the soup to the saucepan and gently reheat, stirring, until the soup is hot but not boiling.
7. Ladle soup into bowls and top with cheesy polenta croutons or garnish of your choice.
Polenta croutons.
8. Grease a small plate or tray. set aside.
9. Bring the water to a boil in a medium saucepan with salt and pepper.
10. Reduce the heat to medium low, add in the cornmeal in a steady stream, stirring constantly.
11. Simmer for 5-10 minutes until the mixture is thickened.
12. Remove from heat add butter, oregano and grated parmesan cheese.
13. Transfer the polenta into prepared plate or tray. Leave to cool for at least an hour.
14. Preheat an oven to 450°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
15. Cut the polenta in small cubes and gently transfer the cubes to the sheet.
16. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until croutons are crisp and golden, flipping occasionally so that each side of the cube is browned evenly.
Update February 2019
17. To cook this soup in IP, saute onion, celery, and ginger in instant pot.on normal mode until edges starts to color.
18. Add roughly chopped broccoli, potato, peas and 3 cups broth. Cancel Saute.
19. Put the lid on, turn the valve to sealing, and select Manual or Pressure Cook on high for 2 -3 minutes.
20. Let the pressure release naturally and follow step 5 onward.
21. To make croutons in air fryer, brush oil on polenta squares in the plate itself.
22. Place oil side down in the air fryer basket. Set the temperature for 400 degrees. Air fry for 25 minutes.
23. After 10 min, pause the air fryer, take out the basket, Flip the croutons by shoving the basket forward and upward a little. If this is too intimidating, you can use a spatula or tongs to flip but it takes time.
24. Once the croutons are crisp add to the soup and enjoy.