A Very Good Broccoli Soup

Warning: I have no pictures of this, because I was exhausted and whipped it up very fast and just forgot. But the soup is too good not to share.

I haven’t really had a night off in … man, I can’t even remember how long. This time of year is extremely busy for film critics, with screenings to attend and Q&As to moderate and receptions to show up to and all kind of other things. Add to that my other job teaching full time, and I have not had much time to cook since, oh, Labor Day or so. Most days I just hope there’s some roasted squash in the refrigerator.

But I got a couple of heads of broccoli in the CSA haul last weekend. I love broccoli, usually steamed with some olive oil or butter and salt, or maybe roasted. It’s delicious. Big fan.

And yet broccoli soup and I have never really been friends. Mostly, I’m not a fan of cream soups, which even my Lactaid cannot cut through, and also (whispers) most broccoli cheddar-type soups are just bowls of cheese with some green that makes you feel better.

I love cheese! But I prefer to eat it in its OG form and enjoy the various textures and flavors.

But I do love soup, especially since it’s started to get cold here in New York, and there’s just nothing more soul-warming and happy-making than coming home and eating a big bowl of soup while you read last week’s New York Times magazine or watch Nailed It! or whatever.

Several years ago, I picked up the Franny’s cookbook, written and developed by the people who owned Franny’s, a beloved Brooklyn eatery that tragically closed in August 2017. (As the New Yorker put it, it really was perfect.) Along with Alison Roman’s books and a couple Jamie Oliver volumes and, of course, Salt Fat Acid Heat, it’s one of the cookbooks I pick up the most when I want to make something simple and very good with whatever ingredient is kicking around in the fridge.

And, lo, it was 10:00pm, and I had been out seeing the new Charlie’s Angels film at a press screening because that is my job, and I got home and found the broccoli and checked the cookbook and there it was, a broccoli soup recipe.

Here, sans illustration, is how to make it:

First, wash and chop up a couple of heads of broccoli. The recipe calls for 9 cups of florets cut pretty small, plus the stems peeled and diced into roughly 3/4 inch pieces. I just used four small heads of broccoli. I don’t have the patience to peel the stems — I just sort of cut off the skin in big chunks, and it’s fine.

(I have not tried it, but I feel confident in saying you should not use frozen broccoli in this context, because this is all about good texture.)

Put a Dutch oven on medium-low heat (I have a Le Creuset one, a beloved and cherished wedding present) and heat up three tablespoons of olive oil (which translates in my head to “some glugs”). When the oil is hot, add enough broccoli to cover the bottom but no more, and cook it for four minutes. It’s gonna get sizzly and brown, but only on one side. Remove that broccoli to a bowl or something and add more oil and more broccoli till it’s all done. (This is both the florets and the stem pieces.)

Once it’s all done, season the broccoli with some salt (like … a teaspoon or two) and toss it and then set it aside while you do the rest.

Dice an onion. Also, you need garlic. I, being terrible, use the jarred minced kind; ultimately you need about 3 tablespoons, so dice up that amount if you prefer to be virtuous and use the real stuff.

Now add two tablespoons of butter (“kind of a biggish knob,” in my kitchen) and three more of olive oil to the pot, and raise the temperature to mediumish. Heat it up till the butter melts. Add the garlic and stir it around for 1-2 minutes. Then add the onion and a little salt (like 3/4 of a teaspoon), put the top on the pan, and let it cook for four minutes. Pull the top off, add 3 cups of water, and put the broccoli back in the pot. Then bring the pot back to a simmer, re-cover it, and cook for about 15 minutes.

When you pull the top off the pot, the broccoli should be bright green. At this juncture, I hope you have an immersion blender, because it makes the next step much easier, which is blending about half the soup. (This is the latest version of mine, which is old because it was also a wedding present and I’ve been married forever.)

You want the broth to be broccoli, but also you want actual broccoli florets in there. If you don’t have an immersion blender, first quickly buy one online so you have it next time, then take out your blender or your food processor and carefully blend a few batches, being careful not to burn yourself, and pour them back into the pot.

You’re almost done. Add 5 teaspoons of lemon juice and about a teaspoon of pepper (I measure the former but fully just eyeball the latter, I’m the worst), stir it around. And then you’re done.

The recipe calls for this to be served with grated parmesan reggiano on top, not the stuff from the can obviously but the real stuff. You could absolutely leave that out. Or you could take your block of parmesan (or probably like manchego or something) and put some slices on top. It’s good.

And then eat it up. It’s basically just vegetables. Eat all of it that you want, and be warm and happy.