Sweet potato, leek, cumin, saffron and cauliflower soup

Name: Sweet potato, leek, cumin, saffron and cauliflower soup
Yield: Serves 4–6
Ingredients: 1 medium leek, sliced and well rinsed to remove any grit; 60 g butter; 7 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil; 1 large slice of stale bread, crusts removed and the bread cut into cubes; 3 garlic cloves, peeled; ¼ cauliflower; 1 teaspoon cumin seeds; 1 large sweet potato (about 400 g), peeled and cut into chunks; 1 bay leaf, torn in half; 2 pinches of saffron; 1.2 litres vegetable stock; chopped chives for garnish

Preparation info

Serves
4–6

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Vegetables

By Peter Gordon

Published 2007

About

This soup is very earthy in its flavours, with the saffron also adding a lovely hue to it and the croutons providing texture. By frying the cauliflower, as opposed to the more usual steaming or boiling, you get totally unexpected characteristics from the vegetable – it becomes sweet, mild and crunchy.

Ingredients

¼ cauliflower
60 g butter
7 tablespoons extra-virgin

Vegan
Soup

Method

Remove the thick stalks from the cauliflower and roughly chop the florets into pieces. Heat a large pot, add half the butter and let it cook to a light nut-brown. Add 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, then add the cauliflower and cook over a moderate-to-high heat to caramelize it, stirring often. Tip