Broccoli Cheese Soup

The other day I got a hankering for broccoli cheese soup.  I called the hubby to see if he would swing by Quiznos and pick some up.  He told me that Quiznos had closed down!  Aw man!  I love their broccoli cheese soup.  What was I to do?  I searched the kitchen and guess what?  I had everything I needed to make it myself.  And boy was it good!

BROCCOLI CHEESE SOUP

2 TBS butter
2 TBS flour
1/2 an onion, diced
2 cups milk
1 cup chicken broth (or vegetable broth)
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (shred it yourself)
1 cup shredded Velveeta
1 (12 oz) pkg frozen chopped broccoli
Salt/pepper

Microwave the broccoli according to the package directions.  Meanwhile, in a large pot, melt butter.  Saute the diced onion in the butter until soft (about 5 minutes).  Sprinkle the flour over the butter.  Let it cook, stirring, for a few minutes.  Salt and pepper (to your taste).  Whisk in the milk.  Bring it to a boil, whisking.  Once it comes to a boil, lower the heat and simmer until it thickens (it doesn't take long).  Add the chicken broth (to make it totally vegetarian, use vegetable broth instead), then add all of the shredded cheese.

A note about cheese:  Don't use the pre-shredded stuff!  It has some weird stuff on it to keep it from sticking together in the bag and it doesn't melt well.  Shred it yourself.  It's so much better!  And the reason I use cheddar and Velveeta is because cheddar has great flavor and the Velveeta makes it super smooth.  Good combo.

Once the cheese melts, add in the cooked broccoli.  Taste it and see if it needs more salt and/or pepper.  At this point you can leave it as it is (with big chunks of broccoli) or you can use an immersion blender to puree it.  I just got an immersion blender so, of course, I pureed mine.  (I love kitchen gadgets!). But, it's good chunky, too.

Smooth, creamy, cheesy goodness!  Sorry Quiznos, I like mine better.