Quick maple cauliflower soup with chicory and hazelnuts

Ingredients

For the soup

• 600g cauliflower florets
• 1 tbsp maple syrup
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove, chopped
• 400ml vegetable stock

To serve

• 1 red chicory
• Handful flat leaf parsley
• Dash red wine vinegar
• Dash olive oil
• 40g hazelnuts, dry roasted in a pan and smashed with the back of a spoon

Quick vegetable stock suggestion

• 800ml water, chopped onion, celery, carrot, garlic, bay, parsley stalks

Method

A generous pile of bitter leaves is a welcome foil to the caramelised cauliflower in this recipe and has the added benefit of making your soup look rather dramatic. If anything is going to convert a cauliflower hater, it’s this velvety concoction.

Chop vegetables into 2cm pieces. Cover vegetables and herbs with cold water and boil for 30 minutes. Strain.

Preheat the oven to 220°C/200°C fan and line a large tray with baking paper. Break up the cauliflower until you have very small florets. Cut up any large stalks – you want to make sure that everything cooks evenly. Mix the maple syrup and ½ tbsp olive oil in the bottom of a large bowl, then add the cauliflower and toss until covered.

Season well with salt and black pepper and tip into the prepared baking tray (or two trays if necessary, as you want the cauliflower to be well spread out). Roast in the oven for 20-25 minutes, or until the edges are blackened and the stalks have softened.

While the cauliflower is in the oven, heat the rest of the oil in a saucepan and sweat the onion over a very low heat until soft and translucent. Add the garlic and cook for a further 2 minutes before adding the stock. Tip in most of the cooked cauliflower, reserving 2 heaped tbsps for garnishing.

Pour everything into a blender and blitz until very smooth, then season with salt and pepper and return it to the pan. Cook a little longer if you’d like it thicker, or let it down with water if you’d prefer it thinner.

To serve, finely shred the red chicory and chop the parsley, then mix them together with the red wine vinegar and olive oil. Season well and pile onto the soup along with the extra maple-roasted florets and the smashed hazelnuts.

This recipe is extracted from Just Soup by Henrietta Clancy, out now from Short Books, RRP £12.99.

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