Cauliflower & Potato Soup

In the throes of winter, soup is always welcome. Here is something different.

Soup, much like a fried egg, is difficult to get wrong. Unless you use dodgy ingredients or weird combinations, you should be able to come up with something palatable with the help of a stock cube. This is the first time cauliflower features on Greedy Gourmet and this is a stunning recipe for you to try if you get a bit bored of my popular Leek and Potato Soup. With the help of my Froothie Optimum 9400, it came out silky smooth.

What makes it so special? The white truffle oil. It’s optional but let me tell you more about this not-used-often-enough ingredient. White truffles are the most expensive variety available thanks to their rarity and unique earthy aroma. They are available only two months of the year and sniffed out almost exclusively in Italy, although some have been found in Croatia, Slovenia and France. The going rate is $2000-4500 per kilogram and two white truffles were recently bought by recently Celebrity Cruises’ Executive Chef, John Suley, for a whopping €302 000. Celebrity Cruises will be offering a truffle inspired menu to its lucky diners.

It’s fair to say not all of us could afford truffles at such luxurious prices. A good idea not to lose out on the flavour is by buying white truffle oil. Remember: a little goes a long way. If you ever get stuck when it comes to flavour combinations, I can’t recommend these two books highly enough: Culinary Artistry and The Flavour Thesaurus. A quick look in these books reveal the following ingredients pair well with: asparagus, bacon, beef, blue cheese, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, chicken, egg, garlic, globe artichoke, mushroom, pork, potato, shellfish and soft cheese. It also works incredibly well in dishes such as pasta, risotto and salads.

Can you see where I’m going with this? Cauliflower, garlic, potatoes and white truffles. In my first attempt I made a pure cauliflower soup without the potato, which worked but was quite intense. The potato gives the soup a bit more weight and balances the flavours handsomely. Add a dash of white truffle oil, toasted almonds and chopped chives and you’ll have a bowl of heaven in front of you.

A special thanks to Denby for sending the lovely grey and black soup bowls.

Recommended Soup Cookbooks

If you absolutely adore soups like I do, you would love the following cookbooks:

• Soup for Every Day: 365 of Our Favourite Recipes
• 200 Super Soups
• The Soup Book
• The Soup Bible
• 500 Soups

 

Related Recipes

• Broccoli & Stilton Soup
• Leek & Potato Soup
• Cauliflower Cheese Soup with Broccoli
• Spicy Roasted Pepper and Cauliflower Soup
• Roast Tomato & Pepper Soup

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