Roasted Broccoli Soup with Bacon

First do your prep. Dice onions and celery. Chop parsley and sweet marjoram. Cut bacon up into small pieces for quick crisping. Wash broccoli and carrots and cut into 1/2 inch chunks set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a 6-8 quart sauce pot heat olive oil and cook bacon pieces until crisp. Drain on paper towels and pour off bulk of bacon fat (reserve 3 Tablespoons of the fat for later – just set this aside). Use about 1 tablespoon of the bacon drippings and saute garlic, onions and celery until soft. Deglaze with chicken broth, add lemon thyme sprigs, bay leaves, chopped parsley and sweet marjoram. Bring to a low boil then simmer for 45 minutes.

Meanwhile.. Roast the carrots and broccoli. Place carrots and broccoli in a single layer on roasting pan that has been sprayed with cooking spray, sprinkle with about 2-3 tablespoons bacon fat (it really gives a wonderful flavor.) Roast for 20-30 minutes until fork tender and broccoli shows slight roasted char. Remove from oven. Add to simmering stock, bring to soft boil, then simmer for 15 minutes until broccoli and carrots are very tender. Take off heat to cool 10 minutes.

Remove bay leaves and lemon thyme sprigs. In batches, with a slotted spoon, remove vegetables from stock and puree in blender or food processor adding a bit of stock to keep liquid. I prefer this than the immersion stick for this recipe. Strain remainder of stock to remove any remaining herb stems, excess pepper. Add puree and stock back to pot, add milk and cream and heat to warm though, do not boil. Taste and adjust salt and pepper to suit.

Serving suggestions: Serve garnished with a swirl of sour cream and finely chopped bacon bits, sprinkle with chopped chives. Nice with sourdough bread or other hearty bread.