Wintry days.....

Wintry days are for:

• staying inside
• wearing PJ's all day
• laughing
• watching old movies
• finding rainbows
• soaking in hot baths
• wearing a different pair of tights from my collection every day
• cuddling someone you love
• reading in bed
• cooking soup

GOURMET GIRLFRIEND'S CAULIFLOWER & FENNEL SOUP:
Soup is so hard to beat as the ultimate Winter comfort food.
Soup fills your tummy and gives your body a great big squeezy hug.
I love Cauliflower.
I think it gets a hard time as a vegetable though.
Lots of people think it is a little bland.
I LOVE to roast it and serve it with a generous squeeze of lemon & loads of parsley.
But another great way to serve it is as Soup.
This one is SUPER EASY & has another of my fave flavours added to it for a bit of pizzazz- Fennel.
I love to make a big batch of soup for the kids to come home to after school on these Wintry days  and then they pack it in a Thermos for lunch at school the next day too!
I topped mine with a Chorizo & Sourdough crumble (instructions at end of recipe) but you can omit this to make it entirely Vego.
WHAT YOU WILL NEED:

• 1/2 head of cauliflower, chopped into florets (don't waste the stalk, chop that too!)
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 shallots, finely diced
• 30g butter
• 1 litre of stock
• 1/2 teaspoon ground fennel
• S & P
• 1/2 cup of cream

METHOD:

Heat a pan on stovetop to medium.

Add butter, shallots & garlic.  Fry for a couple of minutes until translucent.   Then add the ground Fennel.

Now add the cauliflower florets & the stock and bring to boil.

Cook till Cauliflower is soft.

Take off heat and add cream.

Check seasoning & blitz till creamy and smooth.

Serve with crusty Sourdough toast.

(NB: I added a crunchy Sourdough & Chorizo crumble to mine. To make this finely chop 1/4 chorizo sausage & a slice of sourdough bread-crusts removed. Add to a dry nonstick frypan on a medium heat. The oils in the Chorizo will release and the bread will soak them up and crisp up at the same time. Fry for about 6-7minutes or until crunchy and smelling Gorgeous! OMG YUM!!!!)

As the air goes cold....and the trees unfold.....