Every year, after the holiday season the cauliflower recipes start showing up all over facebook. Everyone is making their dietary changes for the new year, and for some unexplained reason, the no-carb contingency thinks that pretending cauliflower tastes like potatoes is a good thing. I happen to be a huge fan of cauliflower, but I think it’s time we all admitted that cauliflower will never be the same as potatoes. A while back I made some cauliflower pancake/fritter like things. I think they were trying to be like potato pancakes. It didn’t even come close, and while we ate them, they will not ever be repeated. I far prefer recipes where cauliflower is allowed to be cauliflower and not used as a stand in for potatoes.
Because when you’re expecting potatoes and you get cauliflower, no one is going to be tricked.
One of my Christmas gifts this year was a new immersion blender, which I wasted no time in using on a pot of Potato-Leek Soup. The soup was delicious. So tasty, and the texture was luxurious- like liquid velvet in a bowl. Surprise, surprise, because my son who dislikes both soup AND potatoes scarfed down that soup and proclaimed it the best ever. He LOVED it. He’s asked for it again in recent weeks and I was only to happy to acquiesce to his request.
It was only a matter of time before I utilized that immersion blender to pulverize other vegetables into creamy versions of themselves in an attempt to get him to like even more vegetables.
Alas, he was not fooled by the cauliflower. He picked at it, as usual, and said it tasted too much like cauliflower. I don’t know who was more disappointed, him or me.
But the good news is, if you are not my picky soup hating son, this Creamy Roasted Cauliflower Soup is absolutely delicious. It does take a few steps with the roasting of the cauliflower and garlic, but other than that, it has very few ingredients, and it was SO much better than the sum of its parts.
It started with the largest cauliflower head I’ve seen at my grocery store. So creamy white and large, I knew it was going to become a pot of soup.
I started by cutting up the head of cauliflower into large florets. Then I tossed that with a light drizzle of olive oil and some salt and pepper, and popped it in the oven to get caramelized and delicious. I also added three cloves of unpeeled garlic to the baking sheet before putting it in the oven. Keeping the garlic in its peel prevents it from getting too toasty and bitter.
While that roasted, I dice an onion and sauteed it in a little more olive oil. After a few minutes, I added two sprigs of thyme and one small sprig of rosemary to the onions and let them all cook together.
Finally, I added a bay leaf, the roasted cauliflower, and some chicken broth to my pot. I let this simmer for about 15-20 minutes or so, and once the cauliflower was soft, I removed the herbs and grabbed my immersion blender. It blended up so creamy, and the flavor was so delicious! I served it up with shredded cheese and chopped, cooked Canadian bacon on top.
Yes, it tasted like roasted cauliflower, but a decadently creamy version of it. If you wanted you could certainly add a swirl of cream or sour cream for some added richness, but I really liked it just the way it was- and also preferred the bites without the bacon and cheese. It just was nice and clean, and a great way to use that cauliflower. Honestly, as I ate it, I felt that if anything, it needed a fresh herb as a garnish to introduce a bit of freshness. Of all things, I really think that some fresh celery leaves would have complemented the roasted flavors here in the bowl. Since I am out of celery, I didn’t have a way to confirm that, but I plan to do so next time.
If you don’t have the fresh thyme and rosemary available, feel free to use dried, but add them with the onions at the beginning of their cooking stages to give them time to release their fragrance into the soup. You want just a small amount of each- maybe 1/4 teaspoon of dried thyme and a good pinch of rosemary.
Creamy Roasted Cauliflower Soup
1 large head of cauliflower, broken into florets 3 cloves garlic, still in it’s peel 3 teaspoons olive oil, divided 1/2 teaspoon sea salt freshly ground black pepper 2 medium onions, chopped 2 stems of fresh thyme 1 small stem of fresh rosemary 1 bay leaf 5 cups broth (chicken or veggie) salt and pepper to taste cheddar cheese, croutons, bacon for garnishDirections:
Preheat oven to 425ºF. Put the cauliflower florets in a large bowl, drizzle with half of the olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Spread the cauliflower out on a large rimmed baking sheet. Add the three whole cloves of garlic (still in their peel). Pop in the oven and roast for about 30-35 minutes, stirring twice while roasting. The cauliflower should have a nice golden brown color on the edges when it is roasted enough.
Meanwhile, add the remaining olive oil to a soup pot over medium-low heat. Add the onion. Cook for about five minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the sprigs of thyme, rosemary, and the bay leaf. Add a small sprinkle of salt and pepper. Cook for an additional three minutes.
Remove the garlic cloves from the baking sheet and take the peelings off the garlic. Add the whole cloves and the cauliflower to the onions. Add the broth and stir to combine and evenly distribute everything. Turn up the heat just a bit until you bring the broth to a boil. Add the lid to the pot and turn it down to a low simmer. Simmer for about 15 minutes, or until the cauliflower is very tender.
Remove the herb stems and the bay leaf from the pot and discard. Using your choice of an immersion blender or a stand-alone blender, puree the cauliflower into the broth to the fineness of your choice. I prefer a smooth soup, so I blended my soup completely with an immersion blender. If you prefer some chunks in your soup, use a stand-alone blender, removing about half of the cauliflower and broth to the blender and leaving the rest intact. As always, use extreme caution when blending hot soup, only filling the blender half full, and covering the top well with a thick towel while you blend.
Serve the soup with your choice of toppings. Some suggestions would be toasted croutons, shredded cheddar cheese, bacon bits, fresh herbs, etc.
Makes about 6 servings.