Cream of Broccoli Soup

With the cold weather pressing against us, it's not surprising that I have been very busy in the kitchen lately with both baking and cooking.

Soup is one of those things that is both wholesome and necessary for this time of the year. It's amazing how a bowl of hot, hearty soup can warm you from head to toe after a day out in the chilly air.

This week, I decided to veer from my usual turkey and rice soup, and instead went with one of my favorites, cream of broccoli; any cream soup, really, is just simply a-m-a-z-i-n-g.

So, here you have it!

What you need

2 Tbsp Butter
1 Chopped Onion
1 Clove Garlic (or more if you'd like)
1 Stalk Celery, Chopped
3 Cups Chicken Broth
8 Cups Broccoli florets (basically fill a produce bag. Don't panic if you do not exactly have 8 cups)

3 Tbsp Butter
3 Tbsp Flour
2 Cups Milk
Ground black pepper
Grated Cheddar Cheese

What you do

Melt 2 Tbsp of butter in a soup pot, and add onion and celery. Sautee until veggies are soft. Add chicken broth and broccoli, cover, and let simmer until broccoli is tender, approximately 10 minutes.

Pour into blender. This step will take a little bit of patience. Only fill the blender half way, making sure that you have both broccoli and broth. Hold down lid with a folded tea towel so you don't burn your fingies! Pulse a few times before fully blending the green monster. Blend into desired consistency. Since you are blending in portions, have a large mixing bowl to put the blended soup in to.

Wash or rinse out soup pot you used to cook up this deliciousness and put back on stove over medium heat and essentially make a roux. Melt 3 Tbsp of butter, and then add 3 Tbsp flour. Mix until smooth and bubbly. Add milk 1/2 cup at a time. Stir until thickened. Add broccoli concoction to this creamy goodness.

Et Voila!

Serve with ground pepper, salt and a generous amount of grated cheddar cheese.

NOTE: The color of the soup is a lot more green than most cream of broccoli soups. Don't freak out, you didn't do anything wrong. I think Campbell's Soup has permanently ruined our view of what real soup should look like.
Recipe easily doubles, and freezes nicely :)

Original recipe taken from here

Until next time..