Recipe: Broccoli and Cheddar Soup

I woke up Sunday morning with a serious craving for soup. Broccoli Cheddar soup, specifically. In a stroke of luck (especially lucky considering the fridge is looking a little barren as of late), I had all of the ingredients to make it. And make it I did.... starting at 9 AM :P

And let me tell you.... it really hit the spot!

Say it with me: YUM!

This is a really simple recipe to make, even though there are a lot of steps. I promise you, it's worth it though!

Ingredients:

3-4 tablespoons butter
2-3 tablespoons flour
2 large shallots (or 1/2 a sweet onion), diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 small or 1/2 a large jalapeno, diced
4 cups broccoli (or broccoli and cauliflower mixed), chopped into small pieces. Use the stems, too! 

3 cups sharp cheddar cheese, grated
1/4 cup cream cheese, softened

I quart low-sodium chicken broth (I use Pacific Naturals organic brand, and used the whole carton)

1 cup cream or half and half
1 can Cream of Celery soup (I used Campbell's)
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1 bay leaf
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions: 

1. Chop your veggies. I put the shallots and garlic in a small bowl and the broccoli in another. Set aside.
2. Melt your butter in a soup pan. Add garlic and shallots, sautee until soft, 3-4 minutes. Whisk in flour to make a roux, and cook until it becomes slightly golden in color, stirring often, about 3 minutes.  Whisk in your cream, chicken broth, and cream of celery soup. The roux will "suck up" the cream really quickly, and the mixture will look lumpy when you add the chicken broth and cream of celery soup. Keep whisking (works better than stirring with a spoon) until the soup base is smooth with no lumps. Season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Add your bay leaf and the diced jalapenos, and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 20 minutes or so, until mixture begins to thicken.
3. While your soup base is simmering on the stove, grate your cheese. I ended up with about 3-4 cups, and it was the perfect amount.
4. Add in your broccoli and stir to combine. Simmer until broccoli is tender, about 20 minutes. Remove bay leaf.
5. You can omit this step if you prefer a "chunkier" soup. With an immersion blender (or a handheld potato masher), blend/crush the cauliflower into the soup. This with give the soup a more velvety texture. I blended it about halfway.... just enough for the broccoli flavor to really take over the soup, while still leaving some bigger chunks to keep things interesting. But you can blend (or not blend) the soup however you'd like it.
6.  Add in your cheese, stir to combine. The cream cheese will take longer to melt and combine, so make sure and pay attention to it.
7. When cheese is melted, give it a taste to see if it needs additional salt/pepper.
8. Enjoy the fruits of your labor! This would be delicious in bread bowls, if you're into that sort of thing.

Makes around six small, or four hearty servings.