One of my great pleasures is watching cooking shows. Good ones, of course, e.g. with Nigella Lawson, Nigel Slater, Gordon Ramsey, Hugh Fernley-Wittingstall, Jamie Oliver, you name it. But that is exactly the problem. Did you notice that I mentioned no German chef?

Unlike other countries in Germany we suffer from an acute shortage of intriguing TV-cooking shows, at least of some to my taste. Interestingly enough, one of the more charismatic German TV-chefs, Tim Mälzer, was trained in the UK for a while by Gennaro Contaldo, as a co-trainee of Jamie Oliver. Fortunately, some of my friends live in England and send me records of UK cooking shows, so I don´t have to be too envious. (Unfortunately I have no connections to America or other countries.)

I always marvel at these TV-chefs. They handle their pots, pans and knifes like it was no effort! Sometimes, when I reproduce one of these dishes I nearly lay waste to my kitchen.

But definitely not when I´m cooking Gordon Ramsey´s amazing broccoli soup. It is not even a real recipe, just broccoli, salt, pepper and water. If you like a bit more of indulgence, add some grated parmesan cheese or a slice of goat´s cheese to the bowl, maybe some freshly toasted walnuts on top and a good slug of high quality olive oil. That´s it!

And the best of all: The soup tastes great, smooth and rich, actually. You would never suspect the simplicity of this dish. It´s a delicious starter or, served with some fresh bread, a healthy meal on its own.

Ingredients:

2 lb (1 kg) broccoli

2-3 cups cooking water from the broccoli

salt, pepper

grated parmesan cheese or a slice of goat´s cheese (optional)

freshly raosted, coarsely chopped walnuts (optional)

good olive oil (optional)

Method:

1. In a big pot bring water to the boil.

2. Meanwhile clean the broccoli and chop into medium chunks.

3. Put the broccoli into the boiling water, cook until soft, about 15 min.

4. Quench the broccoli with really cold water for some seconds to maintain the bright green colour.

5. Put the broccoli in a blender with salt and pepper (a large blender is perfect but a handheld blender can be used as well).

6. Add some of the cooking water, start with 2 cups, mix at medium speed until the broccoli has turned into mush. Adjust the thickness of the puree to your taste by adding more of the cooking water and mix on high speed until you have a soft and homogenous creamy soup.

7. Serve hot.

Variations:

Add a good slug of high quality olive oil.

Before pouring the soup, put a slice of goat´s cheese into the bowl

or

sprinkle the soup with coarsely chopped walnuts and grated parmesan.