Louisiana Cream of Artichoke Soup

I have several artichoke soup recipes and at this point, cannot remember which is which. I hope this is the recipe Diane O’Sullivan remembers. If not, you can always call me Diane, and we can go through the others.

ingredients

1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter
1/2 cup chopped carrot
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped mushrooms

1/4 cup unbleached all purpose flour
1 cup chicken broth
2 8 1/2 ounch cans quartered artichoke hearts (reserve juice)
1 bay leaf
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
1/4 tsp ground red pepper
1/4 tsp dried thyme, crumbled or 3/4 tsp minced fresh
14 tsp sage
Pinch of Hungarian sweet paprika
1 cup whipping cream

directions

1
Melt 2 tbsp butter in a large heavy skillet over medium heat. Add carrots, celery, onions and mushrooms and saute until vegetables are soft and onion is translucent, about 15 minutes.
2
Melt remaining butter in large stock pot over low heat. Add flour and cook, stirring constantly 5 minutes. Stir in vegetables. Add broth in slow, steady stream, stirring constantly. Add artichoke hearts with juice, bay leaf, salt, pepper, ground red pepper, thyme, oregano, sage and paprika and stir through. Increase heat to medium and simmer 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Beat cream in small bowl just until frothy. Blend into soup, heat through, do not boil.

Source: TasteBook