Cream Of Cabbage Soup

Instructions

1 Trim, prepare and wash the cabbage, cut lengthwise into quarters, take out the
hard core and largest ribs, rinse and drain well.
2 Cut the leaves into very thin strips and place in a large pot with the stock,
the herbs and 5 black peppercorns.
3 Trim and wash the leek; slice it into rings; peel the potato and cut into small
pieces; add both to the soup with 1/2 tsp salt, cover, bring to the boil and
simmer for 50 minutes.
4 Remove the skin of the sausage (a highly flavoured and rather fatty sausage made
with plenty of paprika is best) and dice.
5 Heat a non-stick frying pan and when it is very hot, fry the sausage for 2-3
minutes, turning the pieces with a non-stick spatula.
6 The sausage should be crisp; drain off and discard all the fat it has released
and leave the pieces to finish draining on kitchen paper.
7 When the cabbage is very tender, use a hand-held electric beater to reduce the
soup to a creamy consistency or allow to cool a little and process in batches in
the blender, then return to the saucepan and reheat to just below boiling point.
8 Draw aside from the heat; add salt to taste, stir in the cheese, cream, parsley
and sausage. Sprinkle with croutons and serve.