This cheesy cauliflower soup is a Jamie Oliver-inspired dish from his Ministry of Food cookbook. It’s a brilliant thing! The average foodie might pick it up and see all the basic recipes and go, “What do I need this for?” but it’s just darn useful.

The bragging rights for this soup are a bit special for me. Our old roommate Tom—a chronic carnivore and unfoodie—isn’t a fan of soups and is only borderline on stews. Once while he was home sick with a swollen throat (meaning he could only eat soups), I made this.

Upon tasting this soup, he immediately turned to me and went, “This is bloody good!” …so there you go. A soup to please even the most discerning of soup skeptics. Enjoy!

Cheesy Cauliflower Soup

Adapted from Jamie Oliver’s Ministry of Food

Makes: about 8 servings
Cooking time: 40 minutes total
Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients:

• 2 medium brown onions
• 3 cloves garlic
• 2 stalks celery
• 2 carrots
• 3 medium peeled potatoes
• 1 head cauliflower
• about 2 litres prepared vegetable or chicken stock
• 1/2 tsp dried rosemary
• 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 2 cups cheddar cheese, cubed into 1 cm pieces
• salt, pepper, and olive oil

Roughly chop your onions and garlic and get them sauteing on medium heat in a large, heavy-bottomed pot with a bit of olive oil and salt and pepper. While those are cooking, chop your celery, carrots, and potatoes into about 1 cm chunks and add once the onions have softened slightly (just toss them in the pot as you go along with the chopping). Stir each time you add something. Chop the cauliflower into smallish florets (no need to be finicky though!) and add, stirring again. Cover and cook for about 10 minutes with a splash of water or white wine.

If you’re using stock powder or cubes, boil about 2 litres of water in your kettle and measure out the amount of stock mix needed for the water—follow instructions on the packet. Pour the boiled water straight from the kettle so that it just covers the vegetables. Add the stock powder or cubes and mix well. If you’re using prepared stock, warm it up before adding to the vegetables.

Add the rosemary and a really generous amount of fresh cracked pepper, cover and simmer gently for about 20 minutes or until the cauliflower and potato are quite soft.

Remove the soup from direct heat and stir in the 1 tbsp of Dijon. Using a blender, food processor, or immersion blender, process the soup until it’s quite silky and smooth (or the consistency you most enjoy). Return to a very low heat and add the cheese cubes. Stir once every couple of minutes until cheese cubes have mostly melted and dispersed through the soup.

Serve hot with a bit more cheese on top!