After preparing a little too much cauliflower for lunch, what on earth was I going to do with the rest of it? Soup? Apparently so. We live in the The Netherlands after all and cauliflower is a happy staple that smiles at you all year round.

Rather than bond it with a roux sauce – which some recipes call for but I find way too time-consuming a task – I used a few potatoes instead. Worked a dream. Plus it’s gluten-free. Add the cooked cauliflower as the last step, just before blending, or it will loose it flavour if cooked too long.Accompany it with a nice, strong cheese that will start to melt when stirred it into the soup, or use ground salted and roasted almonds mixed with some nutritional yeast.

Ingredients

400 g (4 cups) cauliflower florets (about half a cauliflower)
300 g (2 medium) floury potatoes
1 medium onion
1 large celery stalk
Olive oil for frying
1¼ litres light vegetable stock
3 bay leaves
½ teaspoon nutmeg, or to taste
125 ml (½ cup) soy cream
Salt and white pepper, to taste
A few stems chopped parsley
About 50 g (½ cup) grated cheddar cheese or;
           4 tablespoons salted and roasted almonds
           1 teaspoon nutritional yeast.

Method

• Cut the cauliflower into small florets.
• Peel and medium-dice the potatoes.
• Peel and medium-dice the onion.
• Cut the celery stalk into thin slices.
• Chop the parsley.
• Grate the cheese, or grind the almonds in a food processor with the nutritional yeast.

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• Bring a small pan of salted water to the boil. Drop in the cauliflower, return to the boil over a high flame and cook for 1 minute. Turn off the flame and drain the cauliflower. Set aside.
• In a frying pan on medium flame, heat a little olive oil and gently stir-fry the onion and celery until they brown on the edges.
• Put the onion, celery, and potatoes into a soup pot with the vegetable stock and bay leaves. Bring to a boil over a high flame, turn down the flame, cover and simmer for 10 minutes, or until the potatoes are soft and falling apart.
• Add the cooked cauliflower, nutmeg, salt and pepper and return to the boil. As soon as it boils, turn off the flame. Remove the bay leaves and blend the soup until creamy smooth using a food processor or immersion blender.
• Stir in the cream. Just before serving add the fresh chopped parsley and serve accompanied by grated cheese or ground roasted almonds, and a twist of black pepper from a pepper mill.