Cauliflower Cheese Soup With Cheddar & Onion Spiders

Preheat the oven to 220°C/ 200°C (fan)/ gas 7, then boil a kettle

Peel and chop your brown onion[s] into wedges

Chop your leek[s] in half lengthways, wash thoroughly to remove any grit then top, tail and chop into large chunks

Crush your garlic open by squashing it with the side of a knife and discard the skins

Heat a large, wide-based pot (with a matching lid!) with a drizzle of olive oil over a medium heat

Add the chopped leek and onion to the pan with a generous pinch of salt and cook for 4-5 min or until the leek has softened

Peel your potato[es] and chop into bite-sized pieces, then cut your cauliflower[s] into small florets

Once the leek has softened, add the crushed garlic and chopped potato to the pot with 1 tbsp [1 1/2 tbsp] [2 tbsp] flour

Give everything a good mix up and cook for 1-2 min

Add most of the chopped cauliflower to the pot (save 5 florets per person!) with 600ml [800ml] [1L] boiled water and 100ml [150ml] [200ml] milk

Bring to the boil over a high heat and once boiling, reduce the heat to medium and cook, with the lid on, for 15 min or until the veg is softened – this is your soup base

While the soup is cooking, add the reserved cauliflower florets to a baking tray with your ground paprika, a pinch of salt and sugar and drizzle of olive oil

Give everything a good mix and put the tray in the oven for 10-15 min or until the florets tender and golden

Meanwhile, grate your cheddar cheese finely

Dust your work surface with a generous sprinkling of flour, unwrap your puff pastry and roll it out to 0.5cm thickness with a rolling pin, then cut into 1 large rectangle per person

Spread with most of your onion marmalade (save a little for decoration!), sprinkle with the grated cheddar cheese, then fold in half

Cut 3 slits in each side of the folded pastry, so there are 4 equal strips on each side, careful not to cut through the middle

Twist each pastry strip from the end until it spirals, then make a set of eyes in the centre with a small knife – these are your spooky spiders

Transfer the spooky spiders to a baking paper-lined baking tray (or two!)

Put the tray[s] in the oven for 10-12 min or until puffed up, golden and cooked through – this is your cheddar & onion spooky spider pastry[ies]

Once the soup base is ready, remove the pot from the heat and add your smoked sea salt flakes and vegetable stock mix with a generous pinch of salt and pepper, then blitz with a (stick) blender until smooth

Once smooth, stir through half your grated Italian hard cheese (save the rest for garnish!) and season to taste, then set aside for 4-5 min for the flavours to develop – this is your cauliflower cheese soup