With all the Thanksgiving cooking programs and menu ideas last week, I’m ready for something completely different. How about something that is low calorie and lacto-vegetarian. I know I could use a break from the Thanksgiving pies, cakes and sweet potatoes. This creamy cauliflower soup is full of great flavor and contains no heavy cream but tastes like it is loaded with it. This is a great starter dish for any meal. Save and reheat the leftovers for an excellent lunch.
Preparation of this creamy cauliflower soup is easy and requires just cutting up a leek, an onion and a head of cauliflower, cooking all this for about 35 minutes and then putting it in a blender or using an immersion blender to puree.
Start by preparing a head of cauliflower by removing the leaves and the core. Slice up the softer parts of the core to use in the soup. Slice up the cauliflower into ½ inch slices. Keep out about a cup of small cauliflower florets to brown and use as a garnish. Cut up a leek, using the white and light green parts. Slice this into thin slivers along the length and wash if necessary. Slice a medium onion into slivers. The leeks and onion will be cooked and pureed so beautiful cuts are not really necessary.
In a heavy sauce pan or dutch over, melt 3 tablespoons of unsalted butter, then add the leeks, onion and 1 ½ teaspoons of salt. Keep the heat on medium low and soften for about 10 minutes without browning.
Raise the temperature to medium high and add 4 ½ cups of water and half of the cauliflower and the core pieces. Bring to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes.
After 15 minutes, add the remainder of the cauliflower and simmer for an additional 20 minutes.
While the soup is boiling, melt 5 tablespoons of butter in a small skillet and add the reserved florets. Keep the heat on medium and stir frequently to brown the cauliflower. This will take 7 or 8 minutes. When done, remove the florets with a slotted spoon, stir in 1/2 teaspoon of sherry vinegar and save for garnish, along with the browned butter.
Once the soup has simmered for the last 20 minutes, the cauliflower should be easy to break up. Remove from the heat and use an immersion blender to puree. You can also use a blender for this but make sure that you take the stopper out of the blender cover and use a towel to cover the opening. This will let the steam escape and not overflow. Start slowly by pulsing a few times. The hot liquid steams and expands while being blended. Just be careful. You may want to do this in two batches. Blend until smooth which should take about 50 or 60 seconds.
Rinse the sauce pan or dutch oven and return the soup. On medium heat, bring to a simmer and then thin the soup with water until the surface remains flat after stirring.
Serve with a few of the browned florets and a teaspoon of the browned butter on top. Sprinkle with chives and black pepper.
Yummy, creamy cauliflower soup.
CREAMY CAULIFLOWER SOUP
Ingredients
- 1 head cauliflower
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 leek , white and light green parts only, halved lengthwise, sliced thinly
- 1 medium onion , halved and sliced
- Salt and pepper
- 4 1/2 cups water plus additional for thinning
- 1/2 teaspoon sherry or white wine vinegar
- Minced fresh chives for garnish
Instructions
- Remove the leaves and the core of the cauliflower. Slice up the softer parts of the core to use in the soup. Slice the cauliflower into ½ inch slices. Keep out about a cup of small cauliflower florets to brown and use as a garnish.
- Cut up a leek, using the white and light green parts. Slice this into thin slivers along the length and wash if necessary.
- Halve the onion and thinly slice.
- In a heavy sauce pan or dutch over, melt 3 tablespoons of butter, then add the leeks, onion and 1 ½ teaspoons of salt. Keep the heat on medium low and soften for about 10 minutes without browning.
- Raise the temperature to medium high and add 4 ½ cups of water and half of the cauliflower and the core pieces. Bring to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes.
- Add the remainder of the cauliflower and simmer for an additional 20 minutes.
- While the soup is boiling, melt 5 tablespoons of butter in a small skillet and add the reserved florets. Keep the heat on medium and stir frequently to brown the cauliflower. This will take 7 or 8 minutes. Remove the florets with a slotted spoon stir in vinegar and save for garnish, along with the browned butter.
- Remove soup from the heat and use an immersion blender to puree. This will take several minutes. You can also use a countertop blender for this but make sure that you take the stopper out of the blender cover and use a towel to cover the opening. This will let the steam escape and not overflow. Start slowly by pulsing a few times. The hot liquid steams and expands while being blended. Just be careful. You may want to do this in two batches. Blend until smooth which should take about 50 or 60 seconds.
- Rinse the sauce pan or dutch oven and return the soup. On medium heat, bring to a simmer and then thin the soup with water until the surface remains flat after stirring. Add 1/4 cup at a time until thinned.
- Garnish with browned florets, browned butter, chopped chives and black pepper.
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