Saturday 26 January 2008

Spiced Cauliflower Soup

It’s turned extremely windy here in the last 24 hours, so much so that yesterday they closed the motorway to high sided vehicles after 11, yes 11 were blown over due to the strong winds. Leaves and little bits of grit are being blown into whirlwinds and it’s hard to even walk in a straight line so I decided to stay indoors and make some soup for lunch.

I had a big head of cauliflower in the fridge, not a vegetable I use all that often but it was an impulse buy. They are an amazing vegetable, held together in florets, similar to broccoli, but their heads are a series of tightly wound spirals, all clumped together in little clusters. I always used to think they looked like trees. The cauliflower was to be the star of the soup and I chose to add a small mix of spices into the equation to give it extra warmth and flavour. I was careful not to add too much as I wanted the delicate flavour of the cauliflower to be the main component. However, if you want more of a spicy kick then feel free to add more.

When pureed, the cauliflower made the soup wonderfully smooth and creamy. It was quite thick and had a rich and comforting feel. The light cauliflower flavour shone through, followed by subtle warmth on the back of your tongue from the spices. Just what you need on a dull day.

Spiced Cauliflower Soup
Ingredients
1 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion
1 clove garlic
1 large or 2 small potatoes
1 large head cauliflower (around 550g)
2 pints vegetable stock
1 tsp sweet paprika (not the strong smoky kind)
1 tsp curry powder
½ tsp cumin

Method
Peel and dice the onion while you gently heat the oil in a large saucepan. Add the onion and put the lid on to allow it to sweat.
Peel and dice the potatoes and mince the garlic. Stir into the pan of sweated onions and replace the lid again.
Cook for 5 minutes then break the cauliflower into florets and add to the other veg.
Sprinkle over the spices and add the stock.
Bring the pan to the boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer and allow to cook for 20minutes.
Then remove from the heat allow to sit for 10 minutes to cool slightly before liquidizing.
Sprinkle with a few extra spices and serve in warmed bowls with bread or crackers for dipping.

6 comments:

Alex said...

Can't believe I made a very similar soup on Thursday night!!!

Obviously something to do with the weather!

Gigi said...

I think bad weather is everywhere this week. It's been cold & rainy here and a bowl of creamy soup sounds perfect. I'll bake bread if you save me a cup of delicious soup.

Johanna GGG said...

I love cauliflower - but associate it with winter so haven't had much lately - now you make me think I should - it is good in anything (by the way, your comment about a windy day with leaves and bits of grit everywhere made me think it would be a great challenge to have that as inspiration for cooking!)

Lesley said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

Your soup sounds delicious and comforting. We made a similar soup with pumpkin recently. The spices add another depth to the whole thing as long as they are not overdone. Had never thought of using cauliflower in a soup. Well done.

Pixie said...

Made my first cauli soup a few days ago. Cauli is also a veg I sometimes buy on impulse but it really does make a wonderful soup. Like the spices you used in yours, must try it this way next time.