Panera Bread Broccoli Cheese Soup

Here is a recipe for soup Wednesday. All the soups at Panera Bread are great, and this recipe is a copy of its broccoli cheese soup. The original recipe came from this website.

Ingredients:

-1 tablespoon butter, melted
-1/2 medium onion, chopped
-1/4 cup melted butter
-1/4 cup flour
-2 cups half-and-half
-2 cups vegetable stock
-1/2 pound fresh broccoli (about 3 1/2 cups)
-1 cup carrots, julienned
-salt and pepper, to taste
-1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
-8 ounces grated sharp cheddar cheese

Saute the onion with the tablespoon of butter. Set aside.

Separately, cook the 1/4 cup of butter with the flour for 5 minutes on medium heat.

Add the half and half then the vegetable stock while stirring.
Simmer for 20 minutes.

Add the broccoli, carrots, and onions.
Cook for another 20-25 minutes, until tender.

Use an immersion blender to mix and puree the vegetables.

While still on low heat, add the grated cheese.

Add the nutmeg.

I thought this tasted good, and was really similar to the recipe at Panera. It took a while to make, but each step was pretty easy.