Cream of Roasted Cauliflower Soup

Cauliflower has earned a reputation over the years as a  humble, lowly vegetable but I'm not sure why. Because it's colorless? Because it looks like a brain? Because it wreaks havoc on the digestive system? Well, I'll never understand because I think cauliflower is delicious- and versatile, and healthy and pretty much my go to vegetable for roasting when I get sick of potatoes. Because throw some cauliflower florets in the oven with a little oil and just a little bit of salt and pepper and you get heavenly caramelized delicious nuggets of cauliflower goodness without very much effort (see picture below). One of my favorite ways to eat cauliflower is in a creamy soup. I make cauliflower soup a lot but this time I decided to roast the cauliflower first to really get intense sweet cauliflower flavor and then proceed as usual. I have to admit, it was a great idea (minus the fact that half the cauliflower on the tray was eaten before it made it into the soup) and really added great depth of flavor to the soup. You can make this pareve by omitting the cream and substituting oil for the butter if need be but I highly recommend the dairy version because that little bit of cream adds a heck of a lot. Enjoy!




2 heads of cauliflower, broken into florets
2 Tbl oil
2 Tbl butter
3 carrots, sliced
1 stalk celery, diced
1 large onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 large starchy potatoes, chunked
8 cups vegetable stock ( or enough to cover all the vegetables and cauliflower by an inch)
1 cup cream
salt and pepper to taste

Pre-heat your oven to 375. Toss the cauliflower with the oil and season with salt and pepper. Lay them in one layer on a pan and roast until they get slightly caramelized. In a soup pot, heat the butter. Saute the onion, garlic, celery and carrot until the onions are translucent. Add the roasted cauliflower, potatoes, and vegetable stock and season well with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and let the soup for about 35-40 minutes. Puree the soup with an immersion blender and re-season if necessary. Add the cream while the soup is on a low flame and cook another 5 minutes. Enjoy!



                       Sorry, soup was all gone before I could get a picture.

                                           (not my picture but a good one none the less)