Broccoli Cheddar Soup

I've been craving some broccoli cheddar soup for a couple of weeks. Serious cravings here. I picked up some Campbell's Broccoli Cheese soup, but that didn't hit the spot. As it turns out, I don't like Campbell's soup very much at all. So anyway, we woke up Saturday morning to a fresh coating of snow, and I knew that was the perfect day for this soup! 

Ingredients:

2 heads of broccoli, steamed 

1 quart chicken stock

1 pint half and half

1/2 cup butter (one stick)

1/2 c whole wheat flour

1 small onion, diced

2 carrots, shredded

2 stalks celery, diced

16 oz cheddar cheese, shredded

salt and pepper to taste

Melt butter on low heat. Whisk in flour and continue cooking on low until it's browned slightly. Whisk in stock. While all that's going on, in another pan saute the onion, then add in carrots and celery until tender, then add to roux. Add in half and half and continue cooking on low until it starts to thicken slightly. Add in about half the steamed broccoli. Use and immersion blender to break down the veggies. The soup should be fairly smooth at this point. Add in the cheese and the rest of the broccoli. Keep stirring to melt all the cheese. I used 8 oz of some fancy pants sharp cheddar cheese and 8 oz of Kraft sharp cheddar. It was a good combination. I don't think there's any need to use all expensive cheeses, but I did like having something with a little more bite than just Kraft shreds. 

This kind of soup really begs for a bread bowl, but I didn't plan that far in advance. I did have a loaf of sourdough though, and that worked quite well too!