Broccoli Cheddar Soup

I love vegetables. My mom never had to force me to eat my greens as a kid, although there’s still a few that I avoid; okra (or lady’s fingers as they’re called here), the stalks of bok choy (and other stalks that have that weird “tasteless” taste) and baby corn (what is that?) but everything else? I’m as game as a pheasant. Inspiration for this particular dish came in the form of the rainy weather we’ve been having these past few days. What could be more comforting than a bowl of warm, creamy soup? I searched for soup on Foodgawker and on the first page, 3 words jumped out at me.
Broccoli. Cheddar. Soup.

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Broccoli Cheddar Soup * from here*
2 tbsp butter
1 small onion, finely diced
1 stalk celery, finely diced (I used 2)
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups broccoli (about 4 small heads) cut into very small pieces (you want them to fit on a spoon) ***
2 cups chicken stock (I used this)
2 cups milk
½ cup flour
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
salt, black pepper to taste (I also added paprika)

 

***I don’t know how small broccoli heads are in the US but I told my mom to buy 4 heads of broccoli but I ended up using only 1, and even that was almost 3 cups! By the way I did not know that broccoli is expensive. Those 4 heads cost almost $10 SGD / $7.60 USD!***

 

-Whisk together flour and milk until combined.

 

– Melt butter in a pot over medium heat
– Add onions and celery plus a pinch of salt, pepper and paprika and cook until soft.
– Add garlic, cook for another minute.
– Add broccoli, cook for one minute, then add the chicken stock.
– Allow the broth to come to a boil, and cook until the broccoli is soft.
– Add the milk and flour mixture to the pot, stirring gently.
– Once the soup thickens, add the grated cheddar.
– Salt and pepper to taste

 

My first impression of this soup was “Wait, that’s it?”. Mainly because when I think of homemade soup, I imagine having to slave for hours and hours in front of a hot stove. This thing right here took 10 minutes to prep and another 10 minutes to cook. Huzzah!

Luckily, it was tasty as well. I might add an additional cup of chicken stock or maybe even water to thin it out, it was a wee bit too thick. This soup is very heavy and filling (and creamy and delicious) so it’s definitely “main course” material. My second ever from-scratch soup (the first would be minestrone, which you can see on my blog header) so yeah, I am pretty proud of myself!