Weekly Recipe: Cauliflower Cheese Soup & Herby Croutons

Ingredients (Serves 6-8):

1 large Spanish onion/2 English onions, finely chopped                          400ml milk, semi-skimmed or whole

1 cauliflower roughly 900g-1kg, trimmed and cut into florets                   100g cheddar, cubed

1 large potato, roughly 300-350g, cubed                                                  knob of butter

2 garlic clove, finely chopped                                                                   salt & pepper

700ml vegetable stock, 2 vegetable stock cubes & water

For Croutons:

2 slices of bread, torn into small pieces

1 sprig thyme, leaves removed

1 sprig rosemary, leaves removed

1 tbsp. duck or goose fat / vegetarians can use coconut oil or rapeseed oil

salt & pepper

Method:

  1. Melt the butter in a large thick based saucepan over a medium heat. Add the onion and garlic to the pan and stir for 2-3 minutes or until starting to soften.

  2. Add the potato, cauliflower florets, vegetable stock and milk to the pan, season with salt and pepper. Bring the pan to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes on a medium heat.

  3. Once the cauliflower is soft, remove the pan from the heat and leave to cool. Blitz in a food processor or with a hand held blender to your preferred consistency.

  4. In a small sauce pan melt the fat over a high heat, then add the bread and herbs, cook for 5 minutes or until crisp and golden brown. Using tongs, remove the croutons from the pan and leave on some kitchen towel to absorb the excess oil.

  5. Serve piping hot, topped with cheese, a sprinkle of sweet paprika and nutmeg and finally croutons.

Toms Top Tips:

This recipe makes a fairly large batch of soup but can be frozen in portions. I would recommend keeping it up to a month in the freezer. You can also make this soup a couple days in advance if needs be and keep covered in the fridge until you need it.