Creamy (and Cheesy) Veggie Soup

It's soup time!

I love that chill in the air! Every morning I wake up and pick out a pair of chunky socks and wrap a sweater around my shoulders and remember how thankful I am to live in New England.

I think I have a soup cooking on the stove almost every weekend from now until February. I simmer the stock for hour and add in bit of this and that throughout the day.

I'm always trying to come up with new soups and when I can take a little shortcut and utilize frozen veggies, it's a bonus. Frozen veggies are great when you are pressed for time. No peeling or chopping involved! I've been feeding my kids frozen turnips for decades. They still think they are potatoes.



Creamy (and Cheesy)Veggie Soup
recipe from Lisa@The Cutting Edge of Ordinary
PRINTABLE RECIPE
The veggie part:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
3 carrots,chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
5 shallots, chopped or 1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 quarts (32oz each) chicken broth
2 cups frozen turnip
2 cups frozen butternut squash
3 cups chopped broccoli florets (from 2 crowns of broccoli) *see note
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
1/4 tsp dried thyme
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
The creamy part:
4 tablespoons butter
6 Tbsp all-purpose flour
3 cups milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1/3 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

For the veggie part: In a large soup pot over medium heat add in the olive oil and 1 tablespoon of butter. Add the carrots, celery and shallot or onion and saute until tender (about 4 mins). Add garlic and saute 30 seconds longer. Stir in chicken broth, frozen butternut squash, frozen turnip and fresh broccoli. Add the Italian seasoning, thyme and season with salt and pepper to taste. Cover and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce heat, cover with a lid and cook 20 more minutes. Test the broccoli after 20 minutes to make sure it's tender. If it's not let it cook a bit more.

For the creamy part: Meanwhile, melt 4 tablespoons of butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in flour and cook, whisking constantly 1 minute. While whisking vigorously, slowly pour in milk (whisk well until no lumps remain). Cook stirring constantly until mixture begins to gently boil and thicken, stir in heavy cream. Remove from heat and once all veggies are tender pour into the soup and stir. Remove from heat and stir in cheddar and Parmesan cheese until melted. Serve warm.

Note* You don't want big pieces of broccoli in this soup. This is what I did. I bought 2 small broccoli crowns and I cut the stems as close at I could to the top of the floret. You really don't want any pieces of stem, just the floret top. I chopped the tops if they were too big. You want them bite sized.