Cream of Broccoli Soup with Cheddar

Ever since I took that Williams Sonoma class a couple weeks ago, I've wanted to make a creamy soup that uses a potato as the base. 

• 1 stalk celery, chopped
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 large or 2 small carrots, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 3 cups stock or broth (chicken or vegetable)
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon cayenne (depending how much of a kick you want)
• 1 white potato, peeled and diced
• 8 cups broccoli, roughly chopped (this was about 6 crowns for me)
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (plus more for serving)
• Salt and pepper

Melt butter over medium heat in a large soup pot, and sauté celery, onion and carrot until tender, about 5 minutes.  Add garlic and sauté for 1 minute.

Add broth, bay leaves, nutmeg, cayenne, salt and pepper and diced potato.  Simmer, lightly covered, until potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes.

Discard the bay leaves and puree until smooth.

Add in broccoli and 1 cup of water, and simmer (covered) 20 minutes, or until broccoli is tender.  Puree again, but not too much, leaving some chunks of broccoli (if desired).

Stir in cheese until melted and combined.

Serve with more cheese on top. 

Notes: I only used about half of the cheese as I like the taste of broccoli and thought that amount of cheese might overpower it.