Day 169.
This is an amazing soup. I didn't want to stop eating it---my stomach was full, but my tongue wanted more and more. The kids each had thirds.
Put some cheese on your shopping list, you've gotta try this one.
The Ingredients.
--1 qt chicken broth (or vegetable)
--2 cups milk (I used 2% cow's)
--2 10 oz bags of frozen broccoli florets
--1/2 diced white onion
--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.
The Directions.
Mince the onion into really small pieces. I used my pampered chef chopper thingy. 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, and 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.
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.
UPDATED: so, um, some of you have issues with texture and HATE the way the broccoli and cheese collide. You should blend this a bit, then. Use a hand held stick blender to blend some of the large broccoli florets. In doing so, the broth will thicken without needing to add extra calories with a roux, and the texture will be more even. And no worries, there's no judgment from me... :-)
UPDATED: so, um, some of you have issues with texture and HATE the way the broccoli and cheese collide. You should blend this a bit, then. Use a hand held stick blender to blend some of the large broccoli florets. In doing so, the broth will thicken without needing to add extra calories with a roux, and the texture will be more even. And no worries, there's no judgment from me... :-)
The Verdict.
This is the best broccoli and cheese soup I have ever had. That sounds like a big stretch or an exaggeration, but this so very much beats the canned soup, or the stuff I've had at Fresh Choice. And that's the only other broccoli and cheese soup I've had---so this wins.
I read about six different recipes before deciding on making up this one. I didn't like the idea of making a roux with butter and flour and stirring that in to thicken the broth. It seemed like an unnecessary step. This broth is thin, but very buttery in flavor. I am happy that I didn't mess with making a roux.
I sent Adam to the store to get the cheeses, and he went to a rather expensive grocery store. My heart skipped a bit when I read the price tags; if I was shopping myself, I wouldn't have bought them. This cheese combination is magical---it works better than I could have imagined, but since I'm me, I probably would opt for the 4-cheese blend of shredded cheese next time for two of the cups and then a cup of cheddar.
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