Chunky cream of broccoli soup

Did you make bechamel? You did, right? And now you have some in your fridge and you're wondering what to do with it?

You've come to the right place.

I think my favorite revelation about bechamel is that it is more or less like those "cream of" condensed soups that we ate as kids (or at least I did). I sort of stumbled upon this in one of my earlier attempts at a simple mac and cheese with mushrooms - I sauteed some mushrooms then added some bechamel and lo and behold, cream of mushroom soup!



For broccoli, my basic method is to saute minced onions then some chopped broccoli stalks (must add stalks, I heard they have more nutrition). Once those have softened, I add some chopped broccoli florets, reserving a handful.

Meanwhile, I have heating up about a cup of chicken stock, to which I slowly temper in some leftover bechamel (roughly 1.5 cups worth). Once it is nice and hot, I add it to the broccoli.


If it's too thick, I will add a little water or more stock. Too thin, I'll add a beurre manie. Season to taste.


At the very end, I add the reserved florets, to try to reserve some of the bright green of the broccoli.


This could easily be pureed in a blender to make it much smoother, but I don't have time for such shenanigans. Actually, I don't really mind the chunkiness of the soup.


A little sprinkling of cheese (here, gruyere) is a lovely and decadent accent. I had this batch with some sardine and cream cheese toast.

I suppose "cream of" is a misnomer, since there is no cream in this soup, but I think it's a great, lighter alternative. You could use cream to make the original bechamel of this soup for a much richer version.

This probably makes two huge servings, or four small ones.