I must admit that broccoli is my least favorite vegetable. One of those pregnancy aversions that never went away~but when I saw this recipe for slow cooker broccoli soup over at StoneGable, it actually appealed to me and I decided to give it a try~
fresh broccoli, some onion, carrots, broth, milk and extra sharp cheddar, how could this not be delicious~
But, just in case, I decided to take out a little insurance, and added cornbread croutons and ham. Ham happens to be one of my favorite things so I thought that might help balance out the broccoli thing~
Note: If you haven’t tried the Archer Farms brand spiral sliced ham fromTarget, you must! It is THE best ham I’ve ever had, it is about half the price of a Honey Baked ham, and it comes with a glaze mix. I cook it according to the directions, about 2 hours in a low oven, prepare the glaze and pour over it and it is ready. After we have it for dinner the traditional way, I divide it up and freeze it in smaller packages and pull it out for breakfast biscuits, sandwiches, pizza, casseroles, or to serve with soup like today.
Saute the onion and carrot
put into the slow cooker with the broccoli and pour in broth
I put this together in the morning and stuck the ceramic insert from my crock pot in the refrigerator. When I returned home early afternoon, I put it into the crockpot to cook. I started it on high for about an hour since it was chilled, then turned it to low for the next 3 hours. About 30-60 minutes before serving, blend in the milk, flour and cheese
Picture me pureeing the soup with an immersion blender right before adding the cheese~ you can also puree the soup in a blender but that means transferring it back and forth which is a giant pain. Do yourself a favor and get an immersion blender. You will love it, and use it all the time!
While the cheese is melting and the milk and flour are doing their magic to the soup, toss the cornbread croutons into the skillet that you used for the onions and carrots. Add a drizzle more oil and 2T butter. Increase heat to medium high so you can get a little brown on them before they soak up all the butter!
Set the cornbread aside and add the ham to the skillet to get it warm and create a little color on it.
A crouton and a piece of ham on top for garnish and serve the rest on the side for nibbling and dunking.
Here’s the recipe:
BROCCOLI CHEDDAR slow cooker soup with Ham and Cornbread Croutons
Equipment
- slow cooker
Ingredients
- 6 cups fresh broccoli
- 1 large onion chopped
- 1 large garlic clove pressed or finely chopped
- 1 cup shredded carrots
- 4 cups chicken stock
- ¼ cup flour
- 2 cups 2% milk
- 4 cups very sharp cheddar cheese 1/2 cup reserved
- olive oil
- nutmeg S&P
- 3 T butter
- baked cornbread {I got mine in the bakery at Publix}
- cooked ham cut into 1-2 inch pieces
Instructions
- Cut off thick tough stems of broccoli and rough chop the flowerettes. Toss into an oil sprayed slow cooker. Cook the carrots and onion in a skillet with a drizzle of olive oil for about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook 1 more minute. Add to slow cooker. Pour in stock. At this point you can refrigerate if desired.
- Set slow cooker to low and cook for 3 1/2 hours {or if soup is cold, start it on high for 1 hour and then reduce to low}. Puree soup with an immersion blender until it is the texture that you like. Season with S&P and some freshly grated nutmeg. Whisk milk with flour and add to soup. Add 3/4 of the cheese, reserving some for garnish. Stir and cover pot and continue to cook on low for 30-45 more minutes. Serve with cornbread croutons and ham. Serves 4-6
Cornbread Croutons and Ham
- Cut prepared cornbread into 1-2 inch cubes. Saute in a hot skillet over medium high heat with butter and olive oil quickly to crisp. Set aside and quickly fry ham pieces to heat and caramelize.
It was a perfect meal for a rainy fall evening! Now, I still don’t like broccoli, but I did eat the soup!
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