Cauliflower soup with pecan dukkah

I love this with a sprinkle of pecan dukkah, adapted from Sneh Roy’s cookbook Tasty Express, some blanched spinach and good bread pulled out of the freezer and made crunchy in the oven with lashings of cold butter and lots of salt and pepper.

Credit: annabelle hickson

• serves

  4

• prep

  20 minutes

• cook

  45 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

I used to go to the supermarket every day, and hated it. Now, because I live much further away, I really can’t leave food shopping till 3.30pm. So I go once a week and have what feels like a very civilised “town day”. Out of necessity, I have also compiled a shortlist of my favourite recipes, which can be knocked up easily, tastily and out of not very much. This cauliflower soup meets all those requirements. 

Ingredients

• 1 cauliflower, head cut into florets, stalk roughly chopped
• 60 ml (¼ cup) olive oil
• sea salt and pepper, to season
• 2 onions, roughly chopped
• 1 celery stalk, finely chopped
• 1 carrot, finely chopped
• 1 litre chicken stock
• 1 litre water
• 2 bay leaves
• 125 ml (½ cup) pouring cream
• blanched spinach, crusty bread and butter, to serve

Pecan dukkah

• ½ cup pecans
• 2 tbsp coriander seeds
• 2 tbsp sesame seeds
• 1 tbsp ground cumin
• ¼ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp dried chilli flakes

Instructions

To make the dukkah, place all the ingredients in a dry frying pan over low heat and cook, stirring, for 5-8 minutes or until fragrant. Remove from heat and roughly grind using a mortar and pestle.

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Toss the cauliflower, 2 tbsp of oil and sea salt in a baking dish, then roast for 10-15 minutes or until starting to blacken on the tips.

Meanwhile, heat the remaining 1 tbsp of oil in a large pot over low heat. Add the onion, season with sea salt, and cook, stirring, for 10 minutes or until softened but not coloured (the salt helps bring out a bit of the moisture in the onion, which stops it from burning). Add the celery and carrot, and cook, stirring, for a further 10 minutes or until soft. Add the cauliflower, stock, water and bay leaves, then bring to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes for flavours to infuse. Remove from heat.

Remove bay leaves and using a stick blender, blend the soup, then generously season with salt and pepper. Return pan to high heat, bring to the boil, then remove from heat. Stir in the cream.

Divide the soup among bowls and top with the dukkah and spinach. Serve with the crusty bread and butter.

Recipe from The Dailys by Annabelle Hickson, with photography by Annabelle Hickson.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.

I used to go to the supermarket every day, and hated it. Now, because I live much further away, I really can’t leave food shopping till 3.30pm. So I go once a week and have what feels like a very civilised “town day”. Out of necessity, I have also compiled a shortlist of my favourite recipes, which can be knocked up easily, tastily and out of not very much. This cauliflower soup meets all those requirements.