lunch:

creamy bacon and cauliflower soup

Published 15th September 2017

Now that Spring is here, our veggie garden has finally started producing some Winter veggies. We have made our way through most of our broccolini, now we have an excess of cauliflower and next week it will broccoli. So, today I made this delicious Bacon and Cauliflower soup and gee it was good!

Most soups, especially those that are blended, are so easy to make and take only as long as it takes to cook the veggies – usually less than half an hour. They are also a great way to use up excess vegetables, get a bowl full of vitamins and minerals and warm you on a cold day. I’m hoping that this is one of the last batches of soup that I will NEED to make (due to cold weather) this year and that the sun will start shining soon, but I’m not holding my breath.

 
 
 
 

Soups and my kids are always hit and miss. For lunch, Mark will always prefer ‘bits and pieces’, but if I give him some soup as well, he will usually eat it. Claire will either ask for soup when she sees some and eat the whole bowl and ask for more or she will dip a small piece of bread in it, lick it and say ‘all finished’ – consistently inconsistent when it comes to food!

When it comes to soup and bread, my advice is having bread if you want it, but keep it to one slice and if you want some more, have a bit more soup, you’ll get more nourishment out of the soup that you will out of the bread. Often a good-sized bowl of soup without bread will leave most people satisfied.

I topped this soup off with some parmesan and thyme crisps, which were literally parmesan cheese grated onto baking paper with some thyme sprinkled over the top. I cooked it under the grill for about 5 minutes until it started to turn golden brown. Once cooled, I broke it into pieces and sprinkled it over the soup – a nice touch!

 
 
 
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Ingredients:

  • 4 rashers bacon, fat trimmed, diced

  • 1 onion, diced

  • 4 cloves garlic

  • 1-1.5 heads of cauliflower, roughly chopped

  • 2 bay leaves

  • 2L chicken stock

  • 1/2 cup milk

  • 1/4 cup cream (this can be milk also if you wish)

  • Salt and Pepper

 

Method:

  1. Heat a large soup pot over medium heat, add the bacon and cook for ~5 minutes.

  2. Add onion and garlic and cook until translucent.

  3. Add the cauliflower, stock and bay leaves, bring to the boil, then reduce to a light boil and cook with the lid ajar for about 20 minutes or until the cauliflower is tender. Allow to cool slightly.

  4. Remove bay leaves and blend using a stick mixer or blender until smooth. Add milk, cream and salt and pepper to taste and mix well.

  5. Serve into bowls, top with parmesan and thyme crisps, if using, and serve with bread or toast.