Creamy Broccoli-Cauliflower Cheese Soup with Other Veggies

I felt like cooking today. It's been snowing all day, cold and windy and although the snow hasn't accumulated it still feels like winter outside. The maple is trying to bud and the snow piling on it makes it look like cherry blossoms. So, to warm me up, I cooked.

First was vegetable-venison soup for the canner (recipe here). I like to keep this soup on hand for those days when there's no time to cook.

As I put the first pot of soup together, I realized that I needed touse up some things there were in the freezer compartment of my fridge: cranberries, broccoli and cauliflower. That meant more soup--and cranberry orange bread.  When the bread was in the oven, I got to work concocting a recipe to make some thick, chunky, satisfying soup on this snowy-thinks-it's-still-February day.

This makes a large batch so you'll have some left to freeze for later. (I know, I needed freezer space and now i'll be putting soup back in there! Oh well.)

Here's what you need:

1 head of cauliflower, or a bag of frozen cauliflower. (I used a quart bag I'd frozen last summer)

1 head of broccoli (or ditto on the frozen)

1-2 cups of grated cheese (cheddar is best, but I used cheddar and the rest of a bag of Mexican grated cheese)

 2 medium sized potatoes

 1/2 cup of celery, chopped (I used 2 TBSP dried celery leaves because I was out of celery)

 1 onion, chopped

 2 cups of sliced carrots

1-2 teaspoons Worchestershire sauce (I used 2)

1 teaspoon black pepper

Cook all of the vegetables until tender. I cooked the broccoli, cauliflower and onions together, the potatoes and carrots each in their own pans. I added the dried celery leaves later.

Puree cauliflower, broccoli, onions and celery. Mash the potatoes and carrots (I left them a little chunky to add texture to the soup). Mix all of the vegetables together. Add the Worchestershire sauce and the pepper. Set aside.

Next you need:

2 TBSP butter
2 TBSP cornstarch
3-4 cups chicken broth (1 1/2-2 cans)
1 to 2 teaspoons paprika

Melt the butter in a heavy, 2 quart saucepan. Add the cornstarch and stir with a whisk til smooth. Add the chicken broth slowly and continue to stir. Cook over high heat, stirring constantly, until it reaches a boil. Continue to boil for one minute, still stirring constantly. Remove from heat and add the paprika and the grated cheese. Stir until the cheese is melted and the paprika is well blended into the mixture. (Then taste--it's divine! A little salty at this stage, but that will change).

Add the chicken broth and cheese mixture to the vegetables. Stir well. You're done!

This makes between 3 quarts and a gallon of soup, so it's plenty for a large family, for company, or to store away the leftovers in the freezer for later.

Linking today to Try a New Recipe Tuesday. Need inspiration? This is the place to find it!

 Copyright 2012 Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.