Chestnut & Cauliflower Soup
Totally in food love, one of my favourite vegetables has to be Cauliflower! You won’t believe something so simple can taste so sublime. This soup is naturally creamy from the cauliflower and chestnut puree gives it a twist. Makes a perfect dairy-free nutritionally balanced plant based meal.
Ingredients
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp. rapeseed oil
- 1 extra-large cauliflower cut into small florets
- 3 leeks trimmed finely sliced (400g)
- 2 x 200g pouches Merchant Gourmet Chestnut puree
- 2 tbsp. rapeseed oil
- 2 pints boiling water
- 2 vegetable stock cubes gluten & yeast free (vegan if required for dairy-free)
- white pepper
- herbamare salt or sea salt
Garnish
- whole cooked chestnuts sliced (I recommend Merchant Gourmet)
- crispy roasted cauliflower leaves (see Lisa’s tip)
- oil for drizzling
Instructions
- Place a large 4-liter saucepan on the stove add the oil together with the leeks and sauté until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes, keep on a low/medium heat to prevent burning. Season with herbamare or sea salt and white pepper. Add the chestnut puree and continuously stir to coat in the sautéed leeks. Then add the cauliflower florets and ensure that everything is coated when stirring.
- Dissolve the stock cubes in the boiling water and pour over the vegetables, bring to the boil then simmer for 35 minutes with the lid on.
- When the soup had cooled, blend either using a hand stick blender or freestanding blender, blend until smooth and creamy (the longer you blend the creamier the soup will be, my top tip to a creamy soup, without adding any cream, is blend for as longs as you can, and by using the delicious chestnut puree, which is naturally plant based, it makes the soup even creamier).
- When ready to serve add some sliced whole roasted chestnuts, a drizzle of oil or alternatively garnish with some roasted cauliflower leaves, see Lisa’s tip.
- Enjoy x
- When making this recipe, I’d LOVE to see how you get on so either send me a photo to lisa@myrelationshipwithfood.com or post a picture to Instagram using the #myrelationshipwithfood and tag @myrelationshipwithfood
Notes
LISA’S TIP – I always choose my cauliflower based on those with the most leaves. When cutting your florets from the cauliflower, keep the leaves, rinse them then dry them out. Place the leaves on a roasting tray drizzle with a touch of olive or rapeseed oil and a sprinkling of herbamare or sea salt roast for 15-20 minutes on 200 degrees fan assisted, half way through the cooking duration, give the leaves a stir to prevent burning. The stalks taste a bit like actual cauliflower, but the leafy parts taste like crispy seaweed that you get from Chinese takeaways. And guess what you’re not wasting food your saving and devouring too! You can also make this soup in advance and freeze or it can be kept in the fridge in a airtight container for up to four days.