broccoli cheese soup

Love a good broccoli cheese soup! Better yet, an easy one. 

We had some cool (read: coolER than 100 degrees) weather here in Music City last week and I got bit by the soup bug.

Pinterest is definitely feeding my cooking addiction lately and this beauty was on the menu.

Thank you Mangio da  Sola!

Here's what you do:

Broccoli Cheddar Soup
adapted from Sugarcrafter

• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/2 chopped onion
• 1 clove garlic
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1 cup half-and-half
• 1 cup milk
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 1/2 lb fresh broccoli, chopped
• 1 cup carrot, shredded and chopped
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg (I omitted these two spices b/c, quite frankly, I wasn't buying them for one recipe!)
• 1/4 tsp cardamom 
• 8 ounces grated sharp cheddar cheese
• 4 ounces grated Colby jack cheese 
• Salt and pepper to taste 
• Hot Sauce

Sauté the onion and garlic in the butter over medium heat. Add in the flour, stirring constantly. Add in the half and half, milk, and chicken stock. Bring to almost a boil.

Add the onions back in, along with the broccoli and carrots. Simmer on low heat for about 20 minutes.
Season the soup with the salt, pepper, nutmeg, and cardamom. Stir in the cheeses (and you can play around with the amounts; use however much or little you like) and let simmer for 10 minutes longer before serving.

I served it in a sourdough bread bowl from Kroger - delish!