Vegan Mofo #7 - Bryanna’s Velvety Brussels Sprout Crema...

Vegan Mofo #7 - Bryanna’s Velvety Brussels Sprout Crema 

The Region - Italy
The Book - World Vegan Feast
The Author - Bryanna Clark Grogan
The Recipe - Velvety Brussels Sprout Crema
Page # 73
Difficulty - Easy
Duration - Roughly 30-40 minutes

Okay, so for tonight’s post we move from the Asiatic continent into Europe, with a velvety cream of Brussels sprout soup. I think this dish is really more of a fusion dish then an actual traditional recipe, and though fusion is something I had intended to move away from for Mofo this recipe was just to good not to share! Bryanna says this dish is inspired by the Italians uncanny ability to turn any fresh garden produce into a cream soup, but to me it sounds, smells and tastes more like a soup I’d eat in Germany, or The Netherlands. Or really any other Germanic country and so I suppose it’s not too far off the mark for my Mofo theme.

Now I know what you must be thinking, cream of brussels sprouts? Ew - gross. But trust me on this one, it really is a bowl full of heaven, and it’s super easy. All you need to do is cook onion, garlic and celery in some vegan butter, add potatoes, and some vegan chicken broth then boil.  Then you blend some cashews with non-dairy milk - I used almond - into a thick cream. Once that’s done and the potatoes are cooked you transfer the entire pot into the blender and blend until smooth, and add in the dill. The best part - the most ingenious part - is that you slice the brussels sprouts and pan-fry them then add them fried into the already pureed soup. This is real genius I’m telling you, and it makes all the difference! The recipe also called for vegan sausage but as it was listed as optional I left it out. I just didn’t think it was necessary.

Typically pureed, or creamy soups aren’t really my thing. I mean sure I like a good corn chowder now and again, and in the past I’ve made a killer creamy mushroom soup and creamy celeriac soup but for the most part, cream soups just don’t do it for me. I like texture in my soup, otherwise I feel like I’m just eating baby food, you know? Well thanks to the pan-fried spouts this soup has plenty of great texture, and you’d be amazed at just how well that creamy flavor blends with the slightly bitter, earthy sprouts. This is probably my new favorite soup, and one of my new favorite ways to cook sprouts. Honestly, I think even an avid brussels sprout hater would like this soup.