Broccoli Cheddar Soup - Home Cooked Recipe 29

I recently had some dental issues and needed to have food that was easy to eat.  Instead of just going and buying cans of soup, I thought I would try my hand at making my own.  One of my favorite soups is the broccoli cheddar soup they serve at Panera, so I decided to make my own version.  Here is the recipe!

Broccoli Cheddar Soup

Ingredients:

1 package frozen broccoli

2 cups sharp cheddar, grated

1 stick of butter

1 small onion, finely diced

1/4 cup flour

1 cup milk

1 cup cream

3 cups chicken broth

1 carrot, shredded

1 bay leaf

dash of cayenne

salt and pepper

Directions:

Melt butter in large pot over low heat.  Add onions and cook for 5 minutes, or until tender.  Whisk in flour and cook an additional 4 minutes.  Whisk in milk, then cream, then chicken broth, and bring it to a boil.
Add cayenne, then season with salt and pepper.  Toss in bay leaf.  Reduce heat to medium and simmer for 20 minutes. 
Microwave broccoli for 3 minutes, then add to soup.  Stir in grated carrot.  Cook for 10 minutes, then remove bay leaf and puree until smooth (either with and immersion blender or in an actual blender in batches). 
Add cheese to soup and whisk over medium heat until smooth. 
Enjoy!
***Some fun ideas are to garnish soup with more cheese and homemade croutons, or serve the soup in breadbowls.  You can also add a dash of smoked paprika when you add the cayenne, it gives the soup a nice sweet smokiness.  Another way to impart even more cheesy goodness is to add in a can of cheddar cheese soup, I use Campbell's.