Vicar's Kitchen - Cauliflower Cheese Soup

Suddenly England seems to have been plunged into bleak mid winter eh? It is at times like this that I am reaching for anything that is warming and cosy or bowlfood as I mentioned in my last Vicar's kitchen post. One of my favourite lunch options at the moment is this little beauty, Cauliflower Cheese Soup.

Knock up a pan of this at the start of the week and you'll laughing in the face of frost as you snuggle up with big bowl of hearty, cheesy deliciousness.

Enjoy!

Cauliflower Cheese Soup

20g butter
1 white onion
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 cauliflower
1 bay leaf
A couple of potatoes (to about the size of a baking potato!) peeled and chopped into about 3cm chunks
500ml milk
500ml veg stock
1 teaspoon mustard (any kind will do!)
100g Mature Cheddar, grated

• Melt the butter, add the onions and cook gently until they are soft. Add the garlic, bay leaf, cauliflower and potato. Put the heat down low, cover the pan with a lid and cook for ten minutes. Stir occasionally and add a little splash of water if the veg are sticking.
• Pour in the milk and the stock. Simmer for 15 minutes or until the veg are nice and soft.
• Remove the bay leaf and blitz the soup.
• Stir in the grated cheese and the mustard over a gentle heat to melt.
• Taste to check the flavour and add more cheese and mustard as you like. You can also thin the soup out with some more stock if you prefer.
• Serve with a nice chunk of crusty bread and enjoy!