Broccoli & Cauliflower Cheese Soup

This comforting, cosy soup is a delicious combination of broccoli, cauliflower and vegan smoked cheese. The cheesy element comes from smoked tofu, nutritional yeast and a few other seasonings. Meaning this recipe doesn’t call for any vegan cheese or cashews. I realise vegan cheese isn’t for everyone, and cashews can be expensive, so I’ve been enjoying making cheesy sauces with my Smoked Vegan Cheese Sauce

Serves: 6 Cook time: 20 minutes

You’ll need:

One tablespoon of oil
One small onion, roughly 125g, finely diced
Two cloves of garlic, minced
350g cauliflower, cut into florets
375g broccoli, cut into florets
One and a half litres of hot vegetable stock
Salt and black pepper to taste

For the cheese sauce you’ll need:

160ml dairy-free plant milk
100g smoked tofu, diced
One quarter of a teaspoon of the following: ground turmeric, garlic granules, onion granules
Two tablespoons of nutritional yeast
15g plant-based butter

Method:

Start by heating the oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat. Once it’s warmed up, add in the onion and fry for five minutes
Next, add in the minced garlic and fry for three or four minutes, or until fragrant
Now add in the cauliflower, broccoli and vegetable stock. Cover the pan and increase the heat to a simmer. Leave the cauliflower and broccoli to cook for ten minutes
While the soup is cooking, make the cheese sauce. All you have to do is simply place all the ingredients listed under cheese sauce into a blender, and blend until silky smooth
Once the vegetables have cooked, remove about half and dice them. Blend the remaining soup until it’s smooth, then add the diced vegetables back into the saucepan
Finally reduce the heat to medium, and pour the cheese sauce into the soup. Season to taste with salt and black pepper, and allow a further five minutes for the cheese sauce to heat through
Spoon into bowls and serve with slices of crusty bread