St. Louis Bread Co. Cheesy Broccoli Soup

Jane loves Cheesy Broccoli Soup at Bread Co., but at $4 a bowl, it's a little steep for a frequent treat. I found this recipe in my ward's old cookbook. I've tweaked it a bit, and I believe it's every bit as good as the restaurant!

BTW, a food processor is a really handy tool when making this recipe.

Ingredients:

1 lb. bag of carrots, peeled and grated
5 Heads of Broccoli, cut into florets
1 Onion, finely chopped
4 Stalks of Celery, finely chopped
9 T. Butter
1/2 C Flour
4 C Chicken Broth
2 C Skim Milk
1 C Cream
2 C. Finely Shredded Cheddar Cheese
1/2 C Velveeta (Yes, the secret to restaurant-like soup is pasteurized cheese product. Who knew?!?)

Put 1 T. butter in a large stockpot and melt over medium high heat. Add all vegetables. Toss vegetables in butter and cook for about a minute, until they intensify in color.

Then add 1/2 C water and cover the vegetables with a lid. Steam until vegetables are tender. Don't worry about overcooking, you're going to mush this all up anyway.



In a large saucepan, melt 1 cube butter (8 T) over medium heat. Add half cup of flour and whisk to make a roux. Add Chicken broth and stir until roux comes to a boil. Boil for one minute or until you have a gravy-like consistency.



Mash your vegetables with a potato masher, leaving some chunks of broccoli and celery. Add roux, shredded cheese, half and half, and Velveeta. Salt and Pepper to taste. Although I usually don't need to add anything.



This is delicious with Artisan bread. We had it tonight for Jane's birthday dinner and everyone had seconds!