Cauliflower stalks are too good to waste and if simple simmering and a good glob of pistou does not float your boat, how about another way of using them?
Let's get chopping ...
Top and tail the stalks and chop them into thin slices, boiling for a few minutes in a pan with bouillon, or just sea salt.
You could add onions, leek, garlic or other flavours, but straight-up cauliflower stalks works well.
Once softened, transfer to a suitable receptacle for blending - I drain off the stalks and add in the liquid later.
Hand blend the stalks until they're a good pulp and then add in a glug of avocado oil. This will emulsify into the vegetables and give it a really creamy texture. You could use extra virgin olive oil, but avocado oil has the right mouth feel for this soup.
Once the oil has emulsified into the mix, gradually pour in the liquid and keep blending. The end result should be a really fine blend - pass through a sieve if you're really proper about getting this as smooth as possible.
Pop the soup back onto the hob just to keep warm while you sauté some scallops.
Sautéing is simply a case of softening some butter or your favourite fat in a frying pan, dropping the scallops in and giving them a couple of minutes on each side before flipping them a few times in the remaining fat.
Pour out the soup into a wide bowl, garnish with parsley and drop three or four scallops into the middle of the bowl.
Simple, easy and damn tasty!
