Now that winter is officially here and I have a few days free up my sleeve in between freelance photography jobs I decided it was time to whip up one of my favourite soups. This Cauliflower, Bacon and Potato soup may not look like much in the bowl but it sure does pack a flavoured punch once you have tasted it.

Since it was quite a dreary and rainy long weekend I spent a few hours in the kitchen whipping up this soup and making a huge batch of baby food for the little boy. I got two heads of cauliflower at our local markets for $3 which was a bargain and knew that soup was on the menu once we got home. It only takes a handful on ingredients to make it up and only takes about 30 minutes cooking time from start to finish. That's my kind of meal these days since I have been so busy concentrating on everything else but cooking for myself.

We spent the Queens Birthday weekend at home with no real plans apart from continuing on with the laundry renovations. We have been plugging away at this reno for nearly 2 months now because trying to renovate with a baby takes a LOT longer than it use too. Such as tools down when baby is asleep so we don't have a cantankerous child by the end of the day. We (and I mean hubby) has pulled up the old 70's tiles and re-tiled and grouted, undercoated and started on the topcoat of paint for the walls and ceilings. He installed the cabinetry that we bought from Ikea nearly 5 months ago. I was having nightmares that a piece would be missing and we couldn't put the whole thing together. But alas it all came together just fine. They say you have a good marriage if you can put flat pack things together without fighting.... I am proud to say not a angry word was spoken. Mind you I just did what I was told to do because I had no idea what went where.

This soup nourished us after a long afternoon of battling Ikea instruction booklets and endless screws and dowel to put the cabinetry together. It was a rainy and misty evening, perfect for soup. Hubby lit the fire and made the house nice and cosy while I finished off the cooked soup with a stick blender to make it nice and smooth. This soup is dairy free and gluten free (if you use a allergy friendly stock) however if you have no allergies you could enrich the soup with a good glug of cream after the blending process and warm it though. I could only imagine how good it would be. I finished the soup off with some fried sage which added a lovely finishing note to the soup.

Cauliflower, Bacon & Potato Soup

Prep Time: 10 min

Cook Time: 30 min

Serves: 6-8 with leftovers

Ingredients:

1 x large head of cauliflower, cut into large florets
4 x large potatoes, peeled, cut into large chunks
2 x large onions, roughly chopped
4 x rashers, shortcut bacon, roughly chopped
1 litre chicken stock
1-1.5 litres water
salt, pepper to taste
100ml cream *optional*
5-6 fresh sage leaves
1 tablespoon olive oil

Instructions:

In a large pot over medium heat, place the onion with a drizzle of olive oil. Cook the bacon until slightly crispy and then add in the onions.
Saute the onions until slightly translucent.
Place in the potatoes, cauliflower, stock and enough water to just cover the vegetables.
Bring the soup to the boil and reduce to a simmer for 25-30 minutes or until all the vegetables are tender and falling apart.
Let the soup cool slightly before blitzing with a hand blender. Add the cream (*optional) and blend the soup until smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
In a small pan add the olive oil and heat until nearly smoking. Place in the sage a leaf at a time and fry until crispy. Remove from the oil and drain on some paper towell.
Serve the soup and crumble the sage leaves over the top of the soup.
Serve alongside some crusty bread.