Fabulous Roasted Cauliflower Soup
I love making homemade soups in the fall, and this is my new favorite, with a creamy, satisfying taste. Serve with crusty rolls to complete the dish and make it the highlight of your meal.
I love making homemade soups in the fall, and this is my new favorite, with a creamy, satisfying taste. Serve with crusty rolls to complete the dish and make it the highlight of your meal.
- Carbohydrate 14.2378945346553 g
- Cholesterol 514.343333402577 mg
- Fat 107.853754083624 g
- Fiber 5.04681666199366 g
- Protein 119.207381618087 g
- Saturated Fat 35.6896508110036 g
- Serving Size 1 1 serving (902g)
- Sodium 518.784316601833 mg
- Sugar 9.19107787266164 g
- Trans Fat 8.69600430370886 g
- Calories 1521 calories
Step-by-step
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). In a large bowl, toss cauliflower pieces with olive oil, garlic and shallots. Spread out in a roasting pan or baking sheet with sides.
- Roast in the preheated oven until toasted and tender, about 30 minutes.
- When the cauliflower is done, transfer to a soup pot and pour in the chicken broth and water. Season with thyme and the bay leaf and bring to a boil. Cook over medium heat for 30 minutes. Remove and discard the bay leaf.
- Puree the soup in the pot using an immersion blender, or transfer to a blender and puree in batches, then return to the pot. Stir in the cream and season with salt and pepper. Heat through before serving but do not boil.
Deep golden edges on roasted brassicas develop through the Maillard reaction, yielding a nutty aroma that boiling alone fails to achieve. European farmhouse cooking traditions long favored roasting roots and head vegetables before simmering to concentrate natural sugars. Preserved or dehydrated alliums lack the pungent bite of fresh shallots and garlic, meaning fresh aromatics are required to build a pungent foundation that cuts through heavy dairy.
- Roast the cauliflower florets at 425 degrees F for 30 minutes on a rimmed baking sheet, ensuring adequate space between pieces so they brown instead of steaming in accumulated moisture.
- Use an immersion blender directly in the soup pot for easy cleanup, but process until completely smooth to eliminate the gritty micro-fibers inherent to cruciferous stems.
- Simmer the roasted vegetables in chicken broth and water for 30 minutes with the bay leaf and dried thyme to fully hydrate the herbs and infuse the liquid.
- Stir in the heavy cream at the very end of cooking, maintaining a gentle warming temperature without letting the mixture reach a boil, which prevents the dairy from curdling.
Proper blending technique transforms fibrous brassicas into a velvety texture without adding starches or thickeners. Keeping the heat low after dairy incorporation preserves the structural integrity of the heavy cream.
