Cheesy Veggie Soup
serves 6 - 8
Ingredients
1/4 cup butter
1 onion, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
2 carrots, peeled and diced
1 green bell pepper, seeded and diced
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced (if you scrape out the pulpy bits and seeds, you lose a lot of the heat)
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 heaping Tbsp all-purpose flour
2 cups cream or whole milk
4 cups veggie broth
2 heads broccoli, finely chopped (approximately 4 cups)
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
1 tsp yellow mustard
1 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
salt and pepper to taste
Directions
Melt butter in large stockpot over medium-high heat. Add onion, celery, carrots, bell pepper, jalapeno, and cook, stirring often, until veg is softened, 7 - 10 minutes. Add garlic and cook another minute or so until fragrant. Add flour and cook, stirring constantly, for about two minutes, scraping the bottom of the pan so it doesn’t start to burn. I used my enamelled cast iron dutch oven and my flattop wooden spoon to make this soup and this combo works really well.
Add cream (or milk if using) and broth and continue to cook, scraping the bottom of the pan to release any bits stuck to the bottom (that’s where the flavour hides!) Stir in broccoli. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 20 minutes until everything is sufficiently tender and soup is thickened.
Buzz with an immersion blender until smooth (or ladle into a blender and blend until smooth, carefully because hot liquids and blenders are terrifying).
Stir in cheese, mustard, Worcestershire Sauce, and add salt and pepper to taste.
We enjoyed this topped with a little bacon and served with sourdough toast and it was decadent. Grady refused to try it but Poppy loved it. I’m not sure if it will freeze well and I don’t think I’m going to get the chance to experiment because we keep eating it.
