Souper, souper, supper!

We went to Panera last night after a failed attempt to get hubby a new cell phone (he’s so indecisive!).  You know, since I’ve been a teetotalling incubator and husband has been joining me in my non-drinking ways, dinners out have gotten a lot cheaper.  So I admit I was a bit surprised that our Panera bill was as high as it was.  (Admission: I DID get myself 2 rather expensive drinks.  AND I realized that my pregnancy-induced cold beverage obsession will soon be over – which will save us lots of money…)

Anywho…

I knew I had a recipe for Panera-ish broccoli cheddar soup saved somewhere.  So today, I dug it up and made it.  It isn’t hard – a lot of the steps can take place at the same time.  And it IS delicious. If I had the energy (Sarky = 9 months pregnant, in case I haven’t mentioned that 4000 times by now) I would have thrown together a beer bread, or some sort of quick bread to go with. It makes a good amount of soup – perhaps 8 servings? I used the recipe from The Curvy Carrot with a few modifications.

Broccoli Cheddar Soup

• 2 T. unsalted butter
• 1 T. olive oil (the recipe called for all butter, but my butter was frozen so I used some olive oil instead – you really don’t need the oil… or that much butter)
• 1 small onion diced
• 1/4 C. flour
• 1 C. whole milk
• 1 C. heavy cream (really, you could modify this too – use half and half or just use all milk)
• 3 C. broth (I used chicken broth to make it a little richer, but I know veggie broth would work well here too)
• Pinch of nutmeg
• 2 bay leaves
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 2 carrots grated
• 4 C. broccoli florets (I used fresh and chopped them up, but frozen would work in a pinch too)
• 8 ounces sharp cheddar, cubed (I used grated supermarket cheddar, because I had it on hand.  Still yummy.  Though I’m sure some really good cubed sharp cheddar would be even better!)

1. In a sauté pan over medium heat, melt the butter and oil and saute the diced onion until it is translucent (about 5-7 minutes). Stir frequently so they don’t brown too much. Take them off the heat and set aside.
2. Cook the broccoli and carrots.  (Don’t kill ‘em. I steamed mine until just cooked.  After all, you’re going to be putting them in hot soup, you don’t want to make mush. I tossed mine in my Pampered Chef microwave steamers.  Worked great!)
3. In a large Dutch oven or sauce pot over medium heat, whisk together the flour, milk, and cream until smooth. (If it seems lumpy, just keep whisking.)
4. While whisking, add the broth until integrated.
5. Add the nutmeg and bay leaves, and let the mixture simmer over very low heat, uncovered, for about 20 minutes.
6. Add the cooked onions, broccoli, and carrot.  Let simmer for another 20 minutes.
7. Take off the heat and add the cheese and stir until completely melted, adding more broth if necessary.
8. Salt and pepper to taste!  You’ll probably find that the cheese and broth make the soup plenty salty, but a little pepper is yummy.

As Sarky T’s Mama would say, “Nom, nom, nom.”

Tags: broccoli, cheddar, Panera, soup