Broccoli-stem and celery soup

If you look at the head of broccoli above you'll see about a third of it is stalk. A third, I have to confess, that I used to throw away.

Since writing the book I know better. There had to be some better use for it - and there is. It makes really good soup, along with whatever other vegetables you might have available.

You might think this is so blindingly obvious as to be laughable and always use your broccoli stalks that way but, as I said, I used to be less frugal than I am now.

You need to trim it up a bit with a sharp knife or a potato peeler then cut it into small chunks and add it once you've sweated off your other vegetables. I used onion, celery and potato in roughly the proportions of the Sad Unloved Vegetable Soup here. Then just cook the vegetables in stock until they're tender.

At the end I stirred in some chopped celery leaves (forgot to mention I set those aside too) and topped the soup with some fine slices of sheeps' cheese I had left over. (This is my new favourite way of adding cheese to soup. It melts into long gooey strands that remain distinct from the vegetables rather than turning into a monotonous cheesy gloop.)

If you call it broccoli-stem (rather than broccoli-stalk) soup people will think it's some very cool recipe that Nigella has invented.

And the rest of the broccoli? I cooked it as I often do which is to cut up the florets and stir fry them, adding about a tablespoon of soy sauce, 4 tablespoons of water and a little crushed garlic towards the end. Good hot, but oddly even better lukewarm or cold.