Roasted Cauliflower & Garlic Soup

The first time I made this soup was sometime in 2013. It was a craving soup end of the week kind of day and I had very little vegetables left to play with. There it sat on the third shelf in the refrigerator staring back at me. There was no way around it – it was to be cauliflower soup or nothing. Admittedly I’ve never made cauliflower soup before but I sure love roasted and grilled cauliflower.I turned on the oven, hacked up the cauliflower, tossed in some garlic cloves for good luck, a little oil and off it went into the oven. What happened next was outstanding. I made Roasted Cauliflower soup, and I loved it.

You have to agree, roasting your garlic with the cauliflower is pretty clever, and imparts great flavour. I wanted the soup again, so I took it a step further this time, and tossed in a couple shallots to roast them up to. I do not add cream to this soup but blitz the cauliflower, garlic and shallots like crazy to keep it healthier.

The roasting party in my oven became soup on my stove. I like it when this happens. A few extra minutes to simmer on the stove with thyme and bay leaves, then it gets blitzed, strained and is ready to serve. Those who can not eat dairy will appreciate this soup is dairy free. If you are gluten free do not add croutons. I quickly made some cumin croutons for this soup, but you can use any croutons you have on hand. I made croutons so often I will need to share the recipe. Simple flavours make it delicious.

This should serve 4 pending how big your servings are.

Roasted Cauliflower & Garlic Soup

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Course: dinner, lunch, side, Soup

Servings: 4

Author: Wanda Baker

Ingredients

• 6 cups cauliflower florets approximately 1 head
• 1 head of garlic separated and peeled
• 2 shallots peeled and cut in half
• Olive oil
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3/4 tsp pepper
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• 5 cups stock you can use vegetarian
• Croutons
• Hot pepper flakes

Instructions

• Put cauliflower, garlic cloves and shallots on rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.. Roast in 400 F oven, turning occasionally, until golden on all sides, about 25 minutes.
• Remove from oven and pour into a sauce pan over medium heat. Add thyme, bay leaf and stock. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook for 10-15 minutes, until the vegetables are thoroughly cooked through.
• Remove the thyme bay leaf. Using a hand-held blender, or in a food processor, blitz the soup until smooth. I run it through a sieve, return to the pan and warm.
• Pour into serving bowls and top with croutons and a sprinkle of hot pepper flakes.