Broccoli Cheese Soup

This soup is comfort food for my older daughters. Whenever Alyssa or Brittany were sick, this is what they wanted. Go figure. It makes up very quickly. A lot of times I save the stalk from the broccoli and peel it, and use it for soup. A great way to have broccoli for dinner one night and use the stalks for soup another night.

1 head broccoli, broken into pieces
1 onion, coarsely chopped
2 ribs celery, roughly chopped
2 chicken bouillon cubes
2 cups cream or half & half
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
½ cube butter
4 tablespoons flour
Salt & pepper to taste

Place broccoli, onion and celery into a heavy saucepan. Add enough water to barely cover. Bring to boil and cook until crisp tender. Put this mixture into a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Melt butter in saucepan, stir in flour and cook until thick and bubbly. Return vegetable mixture to saucepan with the butter and flour mixture. Add nutmeg, chicken bouillon and salt and pepper. Stir in the cream or half & half. Serve by placing grated cheese in the bottom of individual serving bowl and ladling the hot soup on top. (I never measure the cream, I just add until it looks right. If I don’t have cream, I use plain milk).