Vermont Cheddar Apple Soup

A good friend of mine and I are doing an Autumn Soup Exchange and I couldn't be more excited. She is also vegetarian, which works out really well. This recipe is my first of the exchange. I will be posting all of my soups on here (and she might guest blog too!), so you'll see one or two soup recipes every two weeks.

This recipe makes about six cups of soup. When I made this recipe last week, I didn't have a food processor (but that has all changed now!), so it was more of a boil down and strain thing, but you can process all of the veggies to make a thicker broth (the original recipe using the food processor is here). I hope you enjoy!

Prep Time: 10-15 minutes
Cook Time: 50 minutes

Ingredients
One (1) stick of unsalted butter
One (1) large leek, chopped finely -- use the white part only
One (1) medium carrot, peeled and finely chopped
Two (2) medium celery stalks, finely chopped
1/4 cup of all-purpose flour
Four (4) cups of veggie stock -- Whole Foods also sells a "Chik'n" stock, which is vegetarian chicken-flavored, and that works well too.
One (1) cup of soy half-and-half creamer 
1/2 pound of Vermont white sharp cheddar, shredded
One (1) teaspoon of dry mustard
One (1) teaspoon of vegan Worcestershire sauce
One (1) apple, peeled, cored and finely diced -- I used a Honeycrisp apple because they're in season and delicious!
Pepper to taste

Directions
Melt three-fourths of the butter in a pot over medium heat.
Add the leeks, carrot and celery and sauté for about 3 minutes.
Add the flour into the mixture and stir for 3 minutes. Cook evenly.
Whisk in the vegetable stock, and bring to a boil.
Once you've reached a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 40 minutes.
Strain the vegetables out of the soup and keep the broth in the pot. Simmer.
Add the cream, cheddar, mustard and Worcestershire sauce. Stir until the cheese is melted.
Season with pepper. Set aside.
Melt the leftover butter in a separate pan and sauté the apple pieces. Make sure that they are slightly crisped on each side.
Add the apples to the soup. Enjoy!