Cauliflower and Almond Soup
A creamy cauliflower soup with almond balls and almond dukkah, a delicious vegetarian starter for the Christmas lunch or dinner.
Servings 4 -6
Calories 411kcal
Ingredients
- Cauliflower soup:
- 2.2 lbs cauliflower 1 kg
- 1 medium onion
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 5 cups good-quality vegetable stock 1.2 liter
- ½ ml heavy cream 125 ml
- fine sea salt and pepper
- nutmeg
- lemon juice
- parsley
- Almond balls:
- ½ cup dried breadcrumbs 40 g
- ½ cup ground almonds 60 g
- 2 eggs
- 1 egg white
- Dukkah:
- ⅓ cup whole almonds 50 g
- 1 tablespoon coriander seeds
- ½ tablespoon cumin seeds
- ¼ tablespoon fennel seeds
- 4-5 tablespoons olive oil
Instructions
Soup:
- Prepare vegetables: Divide the clean cauliflower into florets and chop the stem into small cubes. Finely chop the onions and the garlic cloves.
- Saute: In a large soup pot, heat the oil and the butter. Cook the onions and garlic until translucent, add the cauliflower, stir well and cook for 2 or 3 minutes, stirring often.
- Simmer: Add the vegetable stock and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat and simmer for about 15 minutes or until the cauliflower is tender. Puree the soup, stir in the cream, and adjust the taste with salt, pepper, nutmeg, and some lemon juice.
Almond balls:
- Mix: While the soup is cooking, make the almond balls. In a large bowl, mix breadcrumbs, ground almonds, the two whole eggs, and salt and pepper to taste. Whisk the remaining egg white and carefully fold into the breadcrumb mixture. Leave the mixture to rest for about 15 minutes.
- Form balls: In the meantime bring a pot of water to a boil. Wet your hands and form the little balls, I had 32 of them.
- Cook balls: Add some salt to the cooking water and simmer the balls for about 10 minutes or until cooked through. Add the balls to the soup.
Dukkah:
- Toast the almonds in a small frying pan without adding any fat for a few minutes or until fragrant and golden. Stay close all the time and stir or shake the pan very often. Remove the almonds from the pan.
- Toast the coriander seeds the same way but for a shorter time until they are fragrant. Add them to the almonds, then toast the cumin seeds, add them to the almonds as well, then toast the fennel seeds. Don't toast them all together; each sort requires another toasting time.
- Combine: Place all the spices in a small food processor or in a mortar with a pestle and grind them roughly. Add olive oil to form a rough paste, which can be swirled into the soup.
- Serve the soup with the balls, dukkah, and lots of parsley sprinkled on top.
Nutrition
Serving: 1/6 of the soup | Calories: 411kcal | Carbohydrates: 21g | Protein: 12g | Fat: 33g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 22g | Cholesterol: 90mg | Sodium: 981mg | Fiber: 7g | Sugar: 7g