Few dishes show Gordon Ramsay’s devotion to simplicity like his broccoli soup, a bowl that proves how far good technique can take humble ingredients. As Chef Clare Smyth, Chef Patron of the three-Michelin star restaurant Core by Clare Smyth (opened in 2017) wrote, it becomes “much more than the sum of its parts”, a green purée that tastes as bright as it looks.

Gordon introduced the recipe in his debut cookbook Passion for Flavour, intended to inspire home cooks. Esteemed chef Clare recalled: “I think of it as the first book published by a chef’s chef that made restaurant cooking doable at home. It has great technical recipes, but also includes basics for budding cooks.” At first glance, the ingredients are alarmingly plain: broccoli, cold water, a little cream, sea salt, and black pepper. But that’s the point. It’s the straightforward method that unlocks the soup’s flavour.

Gordon Ramsay’s broccoli soup

Ingredients (six servings)

  • 2kg broccoli heads, washed
  • 1.5 litres of cold water
  • 4 tsp sea salt
  • 120ml double cream
  • Black pepper

How to make broccoli soup

Remove the florets from 2kg of broccoli heads so that only the last 2cm of stalk remains attached; you should end up with approximately 800g of florets.

Bring the water to a hard, rolling boil, salt it, then drop in the florets and cook for 10 minutes until just tender and brilliantly green.

Drain immediately, but keep every drop of the cooking liquid—this is important. Return the drained florets to the empty pot over medium heat for two to three minutes, shaking the pan often so steam drives off excess moisture.

Blend the hot florets in batches, adding the reserved broth a ladle at a time and scraping down the bowl until you reach a glossy, lump-free purée as smooth as soft, runny butter. You may find this easiest to do in two or even three batches.

Pass the soup through a fine sieve, thin with a touch more of the reserved liquid as needed, and let both the purée and the remaining liquid cool.

To serve, bring the purée to a boil, whisk in about three-quarters of the cooking liquid, then stir through the double cream and taste for salt and pepper.