Broccoli Cheese Soup

Back to blogging... apparently it's been more than a year since I put up a post. So, here I go diving back in with a Slow Cooker Broccoli Cheese Soup which turned out way better than I expected. I'm currently living in a small appartment with two industrial ovens, but no stove. So I've been getting to know my slow cooker and electric frying pan very well. This has so far been my first slow cooker success. I found the recipe on Pinterest.

Broccoli Cheese Soup

1/3 cup butter
1 1/2 cups chopped onion

2 cloves minced garlic

6 tbsp flour

Salt and pepper (to taste, I don't add much of either)

2 cans evaporated milk (370 ml each)

5 cups broth (chicken or veggie broth, I used low-sodium chicken broth)

5 cups broccoli florets, diced into small-ish pieces (This was about 4 broccoli crowns for me)

1/4 tsp dried thyme

1/2 cup half and half cream (the original recipe called for heavy cream, but half and half turned out fine for me)
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup parmesean cheese

Melt butter. Fry onions in butter until they are softened and clear. Whisk in garlic, flour and salt & pepper. Slowly whisk in the evaporated milk and continue stirring constantly until it starts to thicken. Remove from heat. Pour into a slow cooker, then stir in the broccoli, broth and thyme. Cook on High 2.5-3 hours or on Low for 6 hours (I cooked it on Low for a little over 6 hours) Switch slow cooker to Warm or Off depending on how soon you are going to eat, then stir in the cream, cheddar cheese and parmesean cheese. Add more salt and pepper if you'd like and then serve hot with bread or crackers. It made about 8 decently sized bowls,  so I don't have to cook again for the rest of the week!

Overall, this recipe turned out very well but I wasn't really able to get a decent picture of it. Its thick and creamy, very cheesy and has plenty of broccoli in it. In the future I might play around with the spices that are in it, taking ideas from other broccoli-cheese soup recipes I've found.