Broccoli Cheese Soup Recipe + Bread Bowl Recipe

One of my favorite soups is the Broccoli Cheddar from Quiznos.  I recently discovered that I could closely duplicate the recipe at home and that it’s filled with veggies I had no idea were even in there!  It’s simple to make, especially with a food processor.

Broccoli Cheese Soup

Ingredients:

• 2 carrots
• 1 large onion
• 2 stalks of celery
• 3 small potatoes  (or 2 med, or 1 large)
• 2 bunches of broccoli (about 4 cups chopped)
• 32 oz chicken stalk
• 3 Tablespoons butter or Olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste

Cheesy White Sauce

• 4 TBS butter
• 4 TBS flour
• 1/2 teaspoon  salt
• 1/4  pepper
• 2 cup milk (add more for a thinner sauce)
• 2 cups grated cheddar cheese

Directions:

Wash, peel and chop all of your veggies.  Add chopped onion, chopped celery and butter to a large soup pot and cook over medium heat for about 5 minute or until the onions start becoming translucent.  Add carrots, potatoes, broccoli and chicken stalk.  Bring to a boil then reduce heat, cover and simmer 10 to 15 minutes until veggies are fork tender.

While the veggies are cooking, melt butter and flour together in a pan.  Add 2 cups milk.  Cook stirring occasionally until sauce thickens.  Add salt, pepper and cheese.  Stir until combined.

When veggies are done cooking, add 3/4 of them to a blender or food processor and blend until smooth.  Do not over blend! Add mixutre back to the other vegetables then combine with the cheesy white sauce.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

(Recipe and photo credit: A Thrifty Mom)

This soup is really good served in a bread bowl.  If you want to make your own, the recipe is below.  I’ve made these and they are pretty good but didn’t come out very big at all.  I’d double the recipe and use twice as much dough for a single bowl.

Bread Bowls

Ingredients:

3 cups Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1 cup semolina
2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
1 tablespoon non-diastatic malt OR 2 teaspoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 cups water

Directions:

Combine all of the dough ingredients and mix and knead them together — by hand, mixer or bread machine — till you’ve made a soft, smooth dough. Allow the dough to rise, covered, for 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

Divide the dough into five pieces, and form them into round (not flattened) balls. Place them on a lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheet, cover lightly, and set them aside to rise in a warm place for 1 1/2 hours, or until they’ve almost doubled in size.

Uncover the balls and let them sit for 10 to 15 minutes, to develop a tough skin. Just before placing the bread bowls in the oven, mist them heavily with water. Bake the bread bowls in a pre-heated 425°F oven for 18 to 22 minutes, until they’re a deep, golden brown. Turn off the oven, prop the door open a little, and leave the bread bowls inside for 15 minutes; this will keep the crust crisp.

Remove the bread bowls from the oven and cool them completely before cutting the tops off and removing the insides; (reserve the insides to make bread crumbs). Yield: 5 large bread bowls.