Canning Broccoli Soup

It's cold weather and the boy is leaving to return to college, so today I'm canning!  I find cooking enjoyable and soothing! Soup seemed like the perfect fix! I've been wanting to put up some broccoli soup.  We love Panera Bread's creamy broccoli and cheddar soup! 

You can't safely can dairy products, so I'm canning the broccoli base and will add a little milk and cheddar when I heat it up! 

Broccoli Soup

1-2 Tbs. olive oil (for sautéing onions)

3  yellow onions, diced

4 celery stalks, diced

4-6 cloves of garlic, chopped

5-6 lbs. broccoli, washed and coarsely chopped

1 cup julienned carrots

1 gallon (16 cups) chicken broth

Salt and pepper to taste

Remember no cream now, but when you cook up your canned soup later, add ¼ – ½ cup cream or milk and add a dash of nutmeg when you cook up later.

Heat oil and saute  onions, garlic and celery until beginning to soften.  Add  broccoli, and stir briefly with the onions, garlic and celery.  Add to broth along with carrots and bring to a simmer.  Because you’re about to cook this under extreme pressure you do not need to fully cook the broccoli, just get it soft enough to puree with an Hand Blender.  If you want a smooth soup puree a little longer with the immersion blender.  I split my soup into two bowls, pureeing one very smoothly and the other bowl I chose not to puree so my soup will have something to chew. 

After pureeing, I combined both bowls and added salt and pepper to taste and get ready to can!  

Keep the soup at simmer.

Fill hot sterilized jars, leaving 1-inch headspace.  Wipe the tops of the jars with vinegar and attach lids and rings.  Process in Pressure Canner with 10 pounds of pressure, pint jars for 60 minutes and quart jars for 75 minutes.

Recipe yields 12 pints or 6 quarts. When you pull the jars out of your canner they will not be as brilliant green as they were before they cooked.  But this is not an issue because when you serve it with milk and cheese added it will take on a creamy appearance. 

I had just a little more soup than would fit in my jars so of course I added a 1/4 cup of milk, 1/4 cup of shredded cheddar and a sprinkle of croutons! So good! Next time I'll serve it in bread bowl but because it is canned I can prepare it in just minutes with all the homemade goodness! Your mouth is watering isn't it? 

“Set on the large pot, and boil stew for the sons of the prophets.”

2 Kings 4:38