Tonight I tried out a recipe from A Year of Crockpotting for Broccoli Cheese Soup. I ended up using the same cheeses that Stephanie used, mainly because I already had them on hand. It was a very good soup. I pureed it a little with my immersion blender so that Carson could eat more of it - and I kind of wish I hadn't done the entire batch. Kevin and I both were missing the broccoli pieces, but it still had a great flavor and taste, just didn't care for the pureed texture too much. I'd make it again, just wouldn't puree it all next time. Broccoli Cheese Soup
1 qt chicken or vegetable broth (I used some of my home-canned chicken stock)
2 cups milk (I used 2% organic milk)
2 10 oz bags of frozen broccoli florets
1/2 diced white onion (I added the whole thing since it was a small one, and I added a small shallot, too)
1/2 t black pepper
1/2 t kosher salt
1/2 t ground nutmeg
1 cup each of three different cheeses, I used jarlsberg, gruyere, and cheddar
Mince the onion into really small pieces. The onions are going to soften in the milk and the broth, and need to be quite small so you don't crunch on onion pieces when the soup is complete.
Add the onion to your crockpot, top with the milk, broth, and spices. Stir in the two frozen bags of broccoli.
Cook on low for 7-9 hours, or on high for 4-6. The broth is done when the onion is cooked nicely. (I had mine on high for 6 hours... I wouldn't recommend going that long on high with this soup. By the end of the cook time, it was starting to stick to the crockpot and get a curdled look to it. I was just careful not to scrape the sides or bottom of the crock while I was stirring, pureeing, and ladling.)
20 minutes or so before serving, shred all the cheese you are going to use, and stir it in. The cheese will be stringy and will stick to the broccoli florets---that's okay!
Serve with your favorite rolls or drop biscuits. (I had every intention of making a beer bread to go with this, but time got away from me and I never had the chance to make it.)
4 comments:
One of my favorite soups, I can't wait to try this recipe!
I've had this recipe written down for months now. But since I haven't been eating broccoli because of nursing I haven't gotten around to trying it. I hope to at some point. Sounds very good! And could be one of my meatless meals :)
It is also one of my favorite soups, Allie. I think that's probably why I was missing the chunks of broccoli so much. :)
It'd make a perfect vegetarian meal, Mary! Although, technically not totally vegan with the cheese and milk and chicken stock... but no meat at least. :) Definitely something you should try once you're done nursing!
I'm not worried about vegan/vegetarian technicalities. I'm just aiming for no meat. I'm not doing it because I'm opposed to eating meat. I just think it's healthy once in a while...and more affordable. I guess I shouldn't label my meal as vegetarian...I'd probably still use chicken stock. Just shooting for no meat.
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