Still Feeling Peckish

This was a Christmas soup – reminiscent of the pea and ham soup I used to make. Every year I host >30 relatives (in-laws, outlaws and others) at my place on Christmas night and cooking needs to be upscaled and cater to a wide variety of tastes and needs (gluten free and dairy free, no less!). This recipe hit big in the flavour department and helped stay a couple of hunger pangs while the turkey was making its delayed entry.

Ingredients

• 1 head of cauliflower cut into florets
• 2 cloves of garlic, diced
• 3 medium sized leeks, white parts sliced
• 2 ribs of celery, diced
• 1 medium sized carrot, diced
• 2 L of chicken stock
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 large piece of smoked ham (200 – 250g)

Method

1. Heat up 2 tbsp of olive oil in a large pot
2. Sauté garlic, leeks, carrots and celery for 5 minutes. Add cauliflower and further sauté for another 5 minutes. The vegetables should be slightly caramelized
3. Add the chicken stock and smoked ham (whole piece) and bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 45 minutes
4. Remove ham from soup and shred or cube the ham
5. Blend the soup
6. Place shredded ham back into soup. Serve hot with garnishing of chives and/or truffle oil.