Coconut brussel sprout soup!

I appreciate that people tend to love or hate brussels, a bit like marmite, you've probably gathered by now I'm a lover not a hater :) This is a recipe my Mum has been making since I was 3, so it has some vintage! This is a really simple recipe and you can play around with it to suit your tastes.

Coconut brussel sprout soup

500g brussel sprouts

1,000 ml of stock (I used vegetable stock)

2 cloves of garlic

2 heaped tbsp desiccated coconut

lime juice to taste

100ml of coconut milk

100ml of water (or more if you like your soup thinner)

Splash of oil for sautéing

salt and pepper to taste

1 green chilli, deseeded and chopped finely (optional)

Wash your spouts, take the bottom off them and cut them in half. Grate or press your garlic. Put a splash of oil in a medium sized pan and gently sautè your garlic until it has softened and taken on a little colour. Add your stock, desiccated coconut, sprouts and if you'd like also add a pinch of salt - it depends how salty your stock is. If you like a bit of heat add your chilli now. Bring to the boil and simmer for 10-12 minutes until the spouts are soft.

Use a stick blender to blend to a purée. Now you can add the coconut milk and

lime to taste, I added between 1/2-1 lime. I also added approx. 100 ml of water to thin the soup out. You might prefer less or more depending how thick you like your soup. If you don't have any coconut milk you might just want to add extra desiccated coconut at the start.

Mum told me that this soup does well to sit for a least a few hours or even better overnight as the flavours mature. Reheat the soup, add a grind of black pepper and enjoy.