As the weather turns cooler, soups seem to be in demand in this house. Nothing better then a hot bowl of steaming soup when it is chilly outside. The orchard had lots of YUMMY fresh picked broccoli this week. I bought 4 LARGE heads of it for $1.25 a piece. Didn’t take long to come up a meal for it this week. Took about 30 minutes to make.
What you will need (AKA Supply List)….
1/2 a huge onion or 1 regular onion diced small
Several heads of fresh broccoli (I used 4 heads). I have tried using frozen in the past. it mushes in the soup.
3 pints of stock. I used homemade chicken stock.
1 quart of cream
About 3/4 of a pound of cheddar cheese. I used white cheddar.
1/4 cup of flour
Garlic powder
Salt
Ground red pepper
Pepper
2 pots (one with a lid)
Whisk and a spoon for stirring
Let’s get to it….
Shred the cheese. The next steps will go kind of quickly for you.
Put your stock in one of the pots.
Add onions to the pot.
Begin to simmer on med heat.
While it is beginning to heat up, separate the broccoli florets from the stalks.
Here is where you can either make them very small or a little larger in size. I made mine larger in size. You can either save the stalks or trash them. Completely up to you. Place the florets in the pot of stock with the onions. There will be more broccoli then stock, Don’t panic. Cover with a lid and let it gently do it’s thing. It is cooking the broccoli down so to speak.
In the second pot add the cream.
Whisk in flour while it is cold. I have found that flour usually doesn’t clump when whisked in with cold cream. Heat on med heat. Whisking constantly. It will thicken up as it heats. You are creating a creamy sauce as I like to call it.
Back to first pot for a second….
Stir the broccoli. Most of it will have changed from a vibrant green to a more olive green. Don’t panic….It’s all good! Put the lid back on. Go back to the other pot. Check on the broccoli maybe one more time while waiting on the creamy sauce to do it’s thing. Once the broccoli is all the olive green color, turn it down to a lower heat.
Back to the creamy sauce….
You will know when the creamy sauce is done when it coats the back of a spoon and is thicker in consistency.
Turn off the heat and stir in the cheese.
You want it to melt without burning.
Once completely melted (generally in about 2 minutes) you will add it to the broccoli, onion and stock mix in the first pot. Blend together.
Add garlic powder, black pepper, salt, and red ground pepper (to match your taste buds) to the soup.
Simmer on med for about 5-10 minutes (stirring occasionally so that it does not burn) until the flavors blend.
Enjoy with your favorite bread….
Simplicity Redesigned 