Cauliflower Soup with Gruyère Crisps

A rich, creamy soup is a wonderful no-fuss, make-ahead elegant dish.

 2 small (or 1 large) cauliflowers, (about 1kg total)

 60g unsalted butter

 3 large echalion shallots, sliced  250ml whole milk

 900ml chicken or vegetable stock  ¼tsp ground white pepper  Grating of nutmeg

 1tbsp crème fraîche

 1-2tsp lemon juice

 75g ready-cooked chestnuts, roughly chopped FOR THE GRUYÈRE CRISPS  60g Gruyère, finely grated  1tsp finely chopped rosemary

1 Trim the base off the cauliflower(s) and cut away the leaves, discarding the large, tough outer leaves, but reserving

any tender inner leaves for garnish. Cut the cauliflower into florets, discarding the core, then roughly chop.

2 Heat 40g of the butter in a large pan over medium heat. Stir in chopped cauliflower, shallots and a good pinch of salt. Cover and fry gently for 10min, stirring occasionally, until softened.

3 Uncover and cook for a further 5min, until just taking on a little colour. Add the milk and simmer gently for 5min. Stir in the stock and simmer for another 5min. Set aside to cool for 10min. Blend with the white pepper, nutmeg, crème fraîche and lemon juice (to taste), until smooth. Check seasoning. Thin with extra stock, if needed. Return to a clean pan.

4 For the Gruyère crisps, preheat oven to 200°C (180°C fan) mark 6 and line a large baking tray with baking parchment. Lightly mix the Gruyère and rosemary. Place in 6 heaped piles, spacing apart, on the prepared tray. Cook for 8min, or until bubbling and golden. Cool for 1min on the tray, then transfer to kitchen paper to soak up excess oil. Cool.

5 When ready to serve, heat the remaining butter in a small frying pan. Add the chestnuts and reserved cauliflower leaves, season and fry for 3-4min, until golden. Reheat the soup, if needed, and divide between 6 bowls. Top with the chestnut garnish and serve with the Gruyère crisps. PER SERVING 254cals, 13g protein, 15g fat (9g saturates), 14g carbs (9g total sugars), 5g fibre

GET AHEAD Make the soup up to

2 days ahead. Cool, cover and chill. Reserve cauliflower leaves for garnish wrapped in damp kitchen paper in a food bag in the fridge. Make Gruyère crisps up to 3hr ahead and store at room temperature. To serve, reheat soup until piping hot in a pan, thinning with extra water, if needed. Complete recipe.