Day 16 Recipe: Winter Soup

Well, I have to tell you about my excitement for today’s recipe. I am a person who has never liked soup. In fact, I would go so far as to say that I actually hate soup. ALL soup. So imagine my excitement when I came up with this wonderful plan to make an amazing and delicious soup that I would actually eat and enjoy! Oh all last night and all the day I have been dreaming and scheming and planning this wonderful meal....


I thought how wonderful it would be to make this soup with veggie stock, and some great veggies that I like, oh ya, add some pasta and bake some toasted bread on the top with cheese! What could be better for this silly vegetarian who loves nothing more than bread/pasta and cheese! (A.K.A. carbs and fat...haha...could account for my less than perfect butt!)


So, the journey to perfection started last night with the idea, and this afternoons romp to the grocery stores. I did some research and started the perfect soup late this afternoon. The excitement was building and building! Finally it came out of the oven looking AWESOME! I could hardly wait. In fact, it seemed I could not wait at all! I was sneaking bites and burning my mouth! Once it had enough time to cool sufficiently, I dug in!


Well, it was not long before disappointment set in, and I realized, my quest to find a soup that I can eat and enjoy is not over. Perhaps I will just surrender to the fact that I just don't like soup.


Whatever the case, here is the recipe from tonight. I am asking that perhaps one of my fabulous readers will be able to make a suggestion for me. Aside from not liking soup in general, I found this recipe to be a little on the sweet side. It is missing something, it needs something to balance the sweetness from onions….I would be grateful to have some suggestions! Hopefully you soup lovers out there will find this more enjoyable than the soup hater(me). Definitely think of something to balance out the sweet if you embark on this soup journey! And let me know how it turns out!


DAY 16 RECIPE:
WINTER SOUP

INGREDIENTS:
3 Onions, thinly sliced (I used 1 red, and 2 Spanish)
2 tbsp Butter or margarine
1 tbsp Flour
12 Fresh mushrooms, Crimini or Button, sliced
2 Garlic cloves, minced
2 cups Broccoli florets
2 cups Cheese Filled Tortellini Pasta
1 tsp Thyme
2 Bay Leaves
Salt and Pepper to taste
2 cups Cheese, grated (I used Havarti, but you could use a variety of different cheeses)
4 Cups Toasted Bread Cubes, or stale bread cubes

DIRECTIONS:
Melt butter in pan. Add onions and cook on medium heat for 45 minutes. Stirring occasionally.
Add garlic and mushrooms and cook 15 minutes more.
Sprinkle flour over mixture and stir in, cook for one minute.
Add broth and seasonings, cook 20 minutes more.
Remove from heat and stir in broccoli and pasta.
Laddle into oven safe dishes. Put bread cubes over the tops and sprinkle with cheese.
Place dishes on a foil lined sheet pan and bake in a 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes. Put under the broiler for a few minutes at the end to brown up the cheese.