Cream of Broccoli and Parmesan Soup

There is something so comforting about making homemade soups. My son hasn't been feeling well and I wanted to make him a healthy but delicious soup for dinner. He loves broccoli & cheese so I thought this would be perfect. He loved it and so did the rest of the family. A big thanks to my friend Currie who gave me a great recipe to work from. This paired nicely with a tossed salad and fresh baked bread with butter.

• 1 tsp olive oil
• 4 cups of broccoli florets, chopped into small bite sized chunks (divided)
• 1/2 sweet yellow onion, diced
• 1 carrot, shredded
• 1/2 lb mushrooms, sliced thinly
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• Salt and (white) pepper to taste
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 cups of vegetable or chicken stock (I use chicken)
• 1 1/2 cups of 1% milk
• 2 ounces of Parmesan cheese, grated

Heat olive oil in a dutch oven over medium heat. Once hot, add 3 cups of broccoli, onion, carrot, mushrooms & seasonings. Cook for about 3-4 minutes; add garlic & cook for 30 seconds stirring frequently before adding stock and bay leaf. Simmer for 30 minutes up to 2 hours. Remove bay leaf; blend ingredients using an immersion blender or regular blender until smooth. Return to dutch oven. Slowly add some of the hot soup to 1 1/2 cups of milk until it's warm (never add cold milk to a hot soup because it will curdle). Add the milk/soup mixture to the soup then add Parmesan cheese and remainder of broccoli florets. Cook over low heat (be careful not to boil) for 10 minutes until broccoli is tender. Enjoy.

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