Roasted Garlic and Cauliflower Soup
I spent the better part of last weekend in a scarf and pea coat. I have no idea what happened to fall, but it got really cold here out of nowhere. For me, that means one thing – soup, and lots of it. I remember when Eric and I still lived in Orlando and we rarely made soup. It was a big deal for us to get soup weather down there, but now we make it all the time. I was somewhat hesitant to suggest this soup to Eric, only because I wasn’t sure how he’d feel about cauliflower being the main ingredient. He doesn’t hate it, but it’s certainly not his favorite vegetable. Thankfully, he was all for giving it a try.
Please don’t run away from this post because you think you don’t like cauliflower. It tastes completely different when it’s used in a soup like this. Plus, it’s roasted before being added to the soup, which gives it so much more flavor. Not to mention, there’s an entire head of roasted garlic in this too, and it’s hard to beat anything made with that much garlic. This soup is reminiscent of a velvety, rich potato soup, in both texture and flavor. In fact, I think you would be hard pressed to identify the cauliflower in this soup if you didn’t know it was there. This soup is earthy, hearty and perfect for a chilly night.
I tend to like my soups with some texture and not perfectly smooth. As such, I used an immersion blender to blend this to the consistency I wanted. You can certainly use a blender to get that incredibly smooth texture if you want. To make this vegetarian, simply omit the bacon and substitute 1 tablespoon of butter or oil for the bacon fat.
- YIELD: 4-6 servings
1 whole head cauliflower
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large whole head garlic
3 ounces bacon
2 stalks celery, diced
1 yellow onion, diced
1 carrot, diced
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
⅛ teaspoon paprika
¼ teaspoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon flour
⅓ cup dry white wine
½ cup water
2 cups chicken or vegetable broth, plus up to 2 more as needed for desired consistency
1 dried bay leaf
2 teaspoons fresh minced parsley
⅓ cup half and half
Olive oil or white truffle oil, for serving (optional)
- 1
Heat oven to 400ºF. Cut cauliflower into florets and toss with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Place on a rimmed baking sheet and season with salt and pepper. Cut off the top of the head of the garlic and place on a sheet of foil. Drizzle with olive oil and wrap tightly. Place on baking sheet with cauliflower.
Roast for about 20 minutes, or until cauliflower is golden and tender. Continue roasting garlic an additional 5-10 minutes, or until caramelized and fragrant. Once garlic is cool, press out of skins and set aside.
- 2
Meanwhile, cook bacon in a large Dutch oven or pot over medium heat. Once crisp, remove to a paper towel lined plate. Let cool and crumble. Discard all but 1 tablespoon of bacon fat and return to heat. Add the onion, celery and carrot and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes. Stir in the spices and flour and continue cooking for 2 minutes.
- 3
Whisk in the wine and water, making sure to scrape up any browned bits that may have formed on the bottom of the pot. Add the broth, bay leaf and garlic. Increase heat to high and bring to a boil, then reduce to medium-low and simmer for 10 minutes.
Add the cauliflower and continue cooking 5 minutes.
- 4
Remove the bay leaf. Working in batches, purée the soup in a blender until your desired consistency is reached. Add additional broth as needed. Return to pot and set over medium-low heat. Stir in half and half and parsley and cook until warmed through. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Serve with a drizzle of olive or white truffle oil, if desired, and top with the crumbled bacon.
Your new site design looks wonderful Courtney! I’m so impressed that you and Eric did it yourselves!
Love this soup, it sounds perfectly comforting for this time of year 🙂
This looks divine – can’t wait to try it.
I’m not a huge cauliflower fan at all, but I might be able to get behind it with this soup, thanks to the roasted garlic (and the bacon, of course).
This looks fabulous – I think I will make it this weekend!!
Made this for dinner tonight, and it was delicious! I can’t wait to share the leftovers with Matt tomorrow! I love me some cauliflower! Thanks for sharing!
Made this today – perfect fall soup! So easy and delicious! I’ll definitely make a double-batch next time to freeze a few lunches.
This soup looks delicious! I love that you roasted the cauliflower before you pureed it.
I just bought the ingredients to make this! Do excited 🙂 Great recipe!
Great idea from Amanda to make a double batch and freeze!
Oh man… it turned out great! So glad I made a double batch 🙂 Would you PLEASE come share it at the Recipe of the Week #3 Thanksgiving Favorites? I think the readers would LOVE this one. Feel free to also add any other favorites you have.