I have an ex-boyfriend to thank for introducing me to this delicious soup, which was more delicious than the ex apparently as after we broke up it was the soup I pined for rather than him! And his cat, but that’s another story…
Unfortunately, I didn’t have the foresight to get a copy of the recipe at the time. But, I finally found it online last year, hurrah (thanks to easy-soup-recipes.blogspot.com for reuniting us!), and it was every bit as tasty as I remembered 🙂
The cauliflower blitzes down into a thicky and creamy soup, with the cider adding that sweet and sharp apple note that just goes so perfectly with cauliflower.
This soup is a real winter warmer, and is also the first (and so far only) soup I’ve ever made. Must sneak another one in before Spring hits… If nothing else, it will give me an excuse to try and get a photo of this that does it justice!
- 1 ¼ lb cauliflower florets (which is about 1 medium head's worth)
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- 1 carrot, thinly sliced
- 2 tbsp butter
- ½ cup milk
- ½ cup double cream
- 2 ½ cups cider (a sweet cider like Magners or Bulmers is perfect. This is "hard cider" for you Yanks!)
- 1 chicken stock cube / pot
- Freshly grated nutmeg
- Salt and pepper
- Snipped chives for garnish (optional)
- Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat before adding the onion and garlic. Cook for about 5 minutes with the occasional stir until everything is just softened.
- Then add the carrot and cauliflower to the pan before pouring in the cider. Give it all a good stir and then season it with salt, pepper and a generous grating of nutmeg.
- Bring to a boil, then add the chicken stock cube and stir that in before reducing the heat to low and covering the pan. Leave it to cook gently for about 50 minutes, or until the vegetables are very soft, and then remove the pan from the heat.
- Let the soup cool down a little, then transfer to a blender or food processor and purée the lot until smooth (fifi says... We used a blender and had to purée in batches so probably best to try a little first and see how your blender copes with it. If you're using a food processor the recipe I found says to strain off the cooking liquid and reserve, purée the soup solids with enough cooking liquid to moisten them, and then combine with remaining liquid.)
- Return the now puréed soup to the saucepan and stir in the milk and the cream. Taste for seasoning, and adjust as needed.
- Simmer the soup over low heat with the occasional stir until it’s heated through.
- Ladle up, garnish with a scatter of chives, or a few drops of olive oil and some freshly milled black pepper, and enjoy!
- Perfect with lots of warm crusty bread to dip (Jus-Rol Bake-it-Fresh Crusty White Rolls, or one of those half baked french sticks that you finish baking yourself are perfect), or a fresh batch of sourdough croutons.
