Creamy Cauliflower Soup with Sauteed Mushrooms

I picked up a beautiful big cauliflower at the shops this afternoon and so I decided to make us a delicious cauliflower soup for our supper. We had rather a big lunch and so we didn't really want anything too heavy.

I sometimes make a Roasted Cauliflower Soup, which is excellent! Other times I do a fantastic one with a Garlicky Brioche Bread Crumb topping, which is also very good. Today though . . . we just wanted something simple.



This is a recipe that I adapted from the BBC GoodFood site, which has been attributed to Gordon Ramsay. Whilst he is not a man I like to watch on the telly, I do like his recipes . . . well the ones that aren't all faffy in any case. He can tend to run a bit pretentious with his food . . . and if you know me I am not a pretentious person!



He did try to faff this one up a bit, but I knocked him back into place. The original recipe called for the use of wild mushrooms, which I thought would be rather tasty, but a bit expensive . . . I used plain old chestnut mushrooms and they were great!



I also added some white pepper . . . coz I like white pepper. I blitzed mine with my handy dandy stick blender, but you can use a regular one if that's all you have . . . or if you are not all that bothered about the smoothness of it all and don't mind a few chunks, just mash it with a potato masher. A bit of texture is nice sometimes, I think!

In any case it was lovely. Simple. Delicious.



*Creamy Cauliflower Soup with Sauteed Mushrooms*
Serves 8
Printable Recipe

A deliciously rich and creamy soup topped with a beautiful garnish of sliced mushrooms sauteed until golden brown.

1 large cauliflower, about 3 pounds, trimmed and chopped
1 large potato, peeled and chopped
1 medium onion, peeled and chopped
fine seasalt and ground white pepper
2 TBS butter
4 TBS olive oil
1 1/4 litre of chicken stock (5 cups)
600ml of full fat milk (2 1/2 cups)
142ml carton of double cream (a very generous 1/2 cup)
250g chestnut mushrooms, cleaned and sliced (about 1 pound)
freshly ground black pepper
1 to 2 TBS chopped fresh chives

Heat the butter and half of the oil in a large saucepan. Add the cauliflower, potato and onions. Stir to coat then reduce the heat to low and cover. Allow to sweat for about 10 minutes, stirring every couple of minutes or so to prevent them from catching and colouring. Pour in the stock and bring it up to the boil. Add the milk and gently return to the boil, then immediately reduce the heat to low and simmer, uncovered for a firtjer 10 to 15 minutes, until the vegetables are very soft. Add the cream. Blitz with a stick blender until smooth. Season to taste with salt and ground white pepper. Keep warm.

Heat the remaining oil in a large skillet, until very hot. Add the mushrooms and flash fry until golden brown. Season with some salt and black pepper to taste.

Ladle the hot soup into heated soup bowls. Top each with some of the fried mushrooms and a sprinkle of chives. Delicious!



Cooking in The Cottage today, a delicious Crisp Autumn Tomato Tart!