Brocolli Cheddar Soup

(recipe slightly adapted from 101 Cookbooks)

For the Croutons:

For the Soup:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl, mix the melted butter with the olive oil and mustard. Stir evenly and then add your torn bread pieces. Mix until all of the bread pieces are coated. Place on a baking sheet, sprinkle with sea salt and bake until croutons are nicely browned. Takes 10-15 minutes. Make sure to stir the croutons a few times during the baking time.

In a large soup pot, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and saute the onions & shallots with a pinch of salt until they become slightly translucent. Add the potato chunks and continue cooking for about 4 minutes-put the lid on the pot at this point. Add the garlic & broth to the pot and bring to a boil. After about 5 minutes or so, the potatoes should be tender. Add the broccoli florets to the soup and cook for about 4-5 minutes for the florets to be tender.

Remove the soup from the heat and start pureeing with an immersion blender. Add half of your shredded cheddar cheese and mustard. Continue blending and then add the other half.  Serve soup in bowls topped with cheddar and loaded with the mustard croutons. DELISH.

Shutterbean Notes:

-I used Kerrygold Aged Cheddar for this recipe

-On the croutons I used Gulden’s mustard and I added Dijon to the soup at the end because I ran out of Gulden’s. Sadly, I didn’t have any whole grain mustard in our pantry!

-I didn’t have whole wheat bread, just a small loaf of french bread for this batch. The whole wheat is better!

-The original recipe recommends a sprinkling of smoked paprika on top! Sounds good to me….