This is a lovely creamy soup with a beautifully smooth rich texture and sweet flavour, and very quick to make. It’s a recipe from the August 2007 issue of delicious magazine, which I altered slightly to make it a little lower in fat. It didn’t detract from the creaminess of the soup – in fact, the Husband declared it was a little too creamy for his taste. Served with crunchy garlic croutons for contrast, this is a delicious soup to start a meal with, or for a light meal on its own with some salad.

ingredients:
50g unsalted butter
1 onion, diced
1 caulifower, broken into florets
2 cups of chicken or vegetable stock (go for the reduced salt version if you’re buying stock)
300ml skim milk
additional 150ml skim milk
2 tbsp low fat sour cream
1/2 small cobb or vienna loaf
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 tbsp chopped parsley

Melt the butter in a large saucepan, then add the onion and cook gently for a couple of minutes.

Add the cauliflower florets, and cook for a minute or so. Pour the stock and milk over the cauliflower, and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat, and cook for about 5 to 8 minutes, until the cauliflower is soft.

While the soup is cooking, break up the bread loaf with your hands on a baking tray, and sprinkle with garlic. Bake at a high heat, say 200C, for about 5 minutes until golden and crunchy. Sprinkle the parsley over the mixture.

Leave the soup to cool slightly, then blend (either with a handheld blender, or pouring the soup by halves into a blender).

Return the blended soup to the saucepan, and stir in the additional milk and sour cream. Taste, and season with salt and white pepper.

Serve hot, sprinkled with the bread, garlic and parsley mixture. I found that larger bread pieces gave a nicer crunch than the smaller crumbs, and contrasted nicely with the smooth creamy soup.