Thick, creamy and subtly spiced. This Spiced Chickpea & Cauliflower Soup is healthy and delicious especially with it’s crunchy topping. 

 
Soup is such a versatile and easy dish that is so comforting. As I have mentioned before, I am very fussy when it comes to soup which is why I always make my own. It also means I can decide exactly which ingredients I use in my soup helping keep them healthy. 

Each Christmas my parents put together a huge box of cupboard staples for my sister and I. They started doing this when we had recently moved out as a way of helping us stock our cupboards. It has now become a tradition due to how excited my sister and I, along with our husbands got every year when we opened the box filled with goodies. 

Sometimes we get some ingredients that we wouldn’t usually buy for ourselves and swapping does happen! However the Christmas before last I got a tin of chickpeas which I have never bought before but didn’t swap. I am not a huge fan of pulses and beans and I want to try to incorporate more of these into my diet, so this lonely can of chickpeas was a step in the right direction. 

After over a year of them sitting in my pantry, I decided it was finally time to bite the bullet and use them. Soup was the first thing that sprung to mind, closely followed by spices which is how my Spiced Chickpea & Cauliflower Soup came about. 

The chickpeas give this soup a delicious thick and creamy consistency which make this soup so cosy and comforting. Also the crisp topping adds some texture which is great with the silky smooth soup. 

This recipe is obviously vegetarian, but you could also easily make it vegan by switching the semi skimmed milk to dairy free milk. 

Serves 3 

For the soup 
1 x 400g tin of chickpeas, rinsed (reserve approx 1 tbsp)
400g cauliflower
½ tsp ground cumin
¼ tsp ground coriander
¼ tsp ground tumeric
¼ tsp garam masala 
2 tsp sea salt 
Pinch of ground black pepper
300ml semi skimmed milk
400ml vegetable stock 

For the topping
1 tbsp reserved chickpeas
30g cauliflower
¼ tsp sunflower oil
¼ tsp sea salt
Sprinkle of cumin
Sprinkle of tumeric 

1. Drain and rinse the chickpeas and add to your soup maker/pan making sure you reserve a heaped tablespoon
2. Cut the cauliflower into florets and add to the soup maker/pan along with the rest of the soup ingredients 

3. If using a soup maker, set it to the smooth setting and leave it to do it’s magic
4. If using a pan, bring to the boil and then simmer for 20 minutes or until the vegetables are soft. Blitz until smooth 
5. As the soup is cooking, make the topping. Preheat the oven to 200ºC/ 180ºC fan assisted
6. Cut the cauliflower into very small florets and add to the chickpeas 
7. Mix with the rest of the ingredients and cook in the oven for 10 minutes until browned and toasted 

8. Serve the soup sprinkled with the crunchy topping 

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