Broccoli Cheese Soup Gone Rogue!

I was in the mood for broccoli cheese soup yesterday and jumped on allrecipes.com to see what the cooks there had to say.  Lucky for me I ran across a recipe that had the requisite brocolli and cheese but that’s not all.  The author shared that “I didn’t know if I wanted broccoli soup, potato soup or ham soup, so I made all three!”

And that’s just what I did.  I didn’t follow her recipe but was inspired by it for sure.  Here is my take on Broccoli Cheese Soup…Gone Rogue!

• 3 Tbsp. butter
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 cup ham, cubed
• 1-2 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 cups chicken broth
• ~1 large russet potato, cubed
• 3 cups half and half
• 4 Tbsp. flour
• 2 cups cheddar cheese, grated
• 1/2 head of broccoli
• ~8 oz. Velveeta

Melt the 3 Tbsp. of butter in large stock pot.  Add diced onion and ham; cook over medium heat until the onions begin to soften and the ham browns a little bit.  Add garlic; cook 1 minute.  Add chicken broth and potato and cook until potato is tender.

In a separate bowl or measuring cup, whisk half and half with flour making sure to completely dissolve flour.  Add mixture to hot soup, stirring as you incorporate.  Bring soup to  a boil and then reduce to simmer.  The soup will thicken within a minute or two.

Add cheddar cheese, broccoli and Velveeta.  Stir, until cheese is melted and broccoli is tender.  Serve piping hot with hard rolls.  (You probably want to double this recipe and pop some in the freezer for next week.  Just sayin’!)