Warming Fall Zuppa

Many of you, like myself, have probably discovered the phenomenon that is broccoli cheddar soup. Especially Panera's version. So when my dad said he had a recipe for it last week, I nearly fell off my chair. Here's a simple dish for those cold Fall days where all you want is a bowl of soup:

What you'll need:

-1 head of broccoli or 2 broccoli crowns

-1 container of chicken broth

-2 cups of sharp cheddar cheese

-3 table spoons of flour

-4 table spoons of butter

-1 onion chopped

-1 chicken bullion cube

-1 cup of milk

-Pepper

-Nutmeg

Clean the broccoli and cut into pieces. Save some of the florets for adding later if you want. In a large pot, sauté the chopped up onion in 2 table spoons of butter. Add the broccoli and the chicken broth. Make sure there is enough broth to cover the broccoli. Add the chicken bullion cube and pepper. Bring to a boil and lower heat until the broccoli is cooked, about 10-15 minutes.

In a sauce pan, heat 2 table spoons of butter, add the flour and cook until the flour starts to bubble and turns light brown. Add the milk and whisk in until it thickens. Using an immersion blender, blend the soup until all of the broccoli is liquid in form. Add some of this liquid to the milk mixture to thin and then pour this into the soup. Bring to a boil and add the cheese. You can also add the florets here if you kept leftovers! Continue to stir until the soup is thick and the cheese is melted. Season with salt and pepper and nutmeg and you're done!

Unfortunately, my camera died when I had already started cooking, so here's a picture I found online that was the closest to what mine actually looked like, yummo:

http://www.foodonthebrain.net/2009/02/17/broccoli-cheddar-soup/