A rich and delicately spiced cauliflower and turmeric soup for the winter with pomegranate, sage, toasted almonds and lemon

Ingredients

1 large cauliflower roughly chopped and  including the stem
2 tbsp butter, olive oil or rapeseed oil
1 large onion
2 cloves garlic
100g ground almonds
3 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tbsp grated ginger
1 litre of hot vegetable stock (add 2 cardamom pods, a large pinch of asfur, 2 pimento berries (all spice) some sage stems and a thumb sized piece of fresh ginger if this wasn’t part of your stock)
1 glass of milk (if you are using a dairy free milk make sure it is completely unsweetened)

To serve

A handful of flaked toasted almonds
The rills of 1/2 a pomegranate
lemon zest
1/2 tsp of toasted sage crumbled
A squeeze of lemon juice

Melt the butter in a casserole dish on a low heat. Add the garlic and ginger and move it in the pan for approximately 5 minutes. Add the onion and let it soften but not colour (approximately 10 more minutes.). Add the cauliflower followed by the turmeric, cinnamon, 1 tsp salt, ground coriander and the ground almonds. Thoroughly combine everything in the pan and stir for 5 more minutes before adding the hot stock. If the stock does not almost cover the cauliflower then top it up with some water. Bring to the boil before turning it down to a simmer for 30 minutes or until the cauliflower is soft.

Using a hand blender blitz until the soup is smooth. Add another tsp of salt, a tsp of black pepper and the milk if adding. Blitz again. Then allow the soup to cook on a low heat for 10 more minutes.

Toast the sliced almonds in a pan and combine with the lemon zest, toasted sage and pomegranate. Serve the soup with a spoonful of this and a squeeze of lemon juice.