cauliflower & saffron soup

The weather has definitely turned and inevitably the days are getting shorter and shorter. You wake up in the morning and it's still dark. It's kind of miserable on the one hand, but... on the other it's all about having an excuse to get cosy! With a blanket, a movie, a hot drink or indeed SOUP!

Let's get lazy! Let's get gemütlich! 
photos by Rebecca Crawford

serves 4. 

ingredients.

For the soup: 
1 tsp saffron threads
2 tbsp butter
2 large onions, coarsely chopped
1 large head of cauliflower, cut into 2 cm pieces
500 ml water
500 ml good quality vegetable or chicken stock
100 ml single cream
nigella seeds and chili threads for garnish (optional) 

For the flatbreads: 
4 pieces of arabic flatbread (available at most turkish supermarkets)
1 tbsp olive oil
cumin

steps.

1. Use a mortar and pestle to grind the saffron threads to a very fine powder (adding some grains of salt will help you get them finer). Cover with some recently boiled water and allow to steep for around 20 minutes. 

2. Melt the butter in a large pot over a medium-low heat. Add the chopped onions and sauté until very soft and fragrant but not brown, around 10-15 minutes. Add the cauliflower pieces and stir to combine. Add the water, stock and saffron mixture. Bring to a simmer, cover and cook for around 20 minutes until the cauliflower pieces are tender. 

3. Take the soup of the heat, and using a stick blender, puree until smooth and velvety. Once you're happy with the consistency, put the soup back on the heat, stir in the cream and season with salt andpepper to taste. 

4. For the flatbreads: Preheat the oven to 200°C. Rub with the olive oil, sprinkle with cumin and bake until crisp.

5. Ladle the soup into bowls and top with chili threads and nigella seeds!