Soup is the favorite way my husband likes to eat cauliflower, with roasted running a close second. That inspired me to create this soup for dinner last night. The normally pungent fennel goes all sweet and creamy in this soup. Roasting mellows its flavor just as it does garlic. I served it with warm, whole grain bread and local butter.
ROASTED CAULIFLOWER, FENNEL, AND GARLIC SOUP
1 head cauliflower, remove core, break into florets
1 fennel bulb, white part only, trimmed and cut into chunks
6 unpeeled cloves of garlic
olive oil
unsalted butter
6 cups of water or broth
2 waxy potatoes scrubbed and chunked (I never peel them for soup)
heavy cream, milk, half n half or unsweetened soy milk (about a cup)
salt and pepper
Place cauliflower, fennel, and garlic in roasting pan. Toss with olive oil, salt and pepper and roast at 375º for about 45 minutes until fragrant and lightly browned.
Peel garlic and then transfer squeezed garlic and veggies to soup pot and saute in olive oil and a little butter for about 10 minutes.
Add water or broth and potatoes. Bring to a simmer and cook until potatoes are soft skimming any foam as needed. Puree with a stick blender (see side bar) then add cream to taste until soup is silky. Season with salt and pepper. Serve.
the soup sounds delicious. littlefoodie begs for roasted cauliflower so i'll have to try this...i never makes soups so i am sure the soup loving bigfoodie daddy would be so happy.
Posted by: foodiemama | April 26, 2007 at 08:23 AM
I'm always concerned about using fennel, because I don't care for the flavor...is it overpowering, or a subtle addition? Can it be omitted without wrecking the recipe? I'd really like to try this, because I absolutely love creamy soups.
Posted by: Kat | April 26, 2007 at 09:07 AM
I have this recipe on my list to try this week! Instead of posting the full recipe, I will post a link to your blog...
(I'm also going to use the fennel, since I don't want to possibly ruin the whole thing by making changes.)
Posted by: Kat | April 30, 2007 at 07:08 AM
I made this soup last night - it was delicious and really very easy. I'm going to try this pan roasting technique with some of my other vegetable soups - I really liked how it turned out.
For the record, I used the fennel, even though I have never been a fan of it. My husband thought we should stick to the recipe as written or it might just be a run of the mill cauliflower soup. I'm so glad I listened to him. The roasted fennel is a lot mellower than the fresh bulb, and it gave the soup some depth that I really liked. I made some croutons from day old bread and it was perfect for a rainy evening.
This is my first time posting, but I have been reading the blog for awhile - thanks for the great recipes!
Posted by: Susanne | May 01, 2007 at 07:45 AM
I am linking this post on my blog. I am adding this to my "try" list for this weekend. Thanks CityMama!
Posted by: becky | May 03, 2007 at 11:19 AM
Delurking to say how great this is - finally something to do with the fennel that keeps coming in my CSA box! Now if only I knew what to do with the beets.....
Posted by: emily | May 03, 2007 at 04:48 PM
I'm going to try this tonight, although I am still at a hotel, so I won't be blending completely. I'll mash to a certain extent, and we'll just have it chunky.
Emily: You should make borscht. I don't like beets all that much, but my mother makes the best borscht, with sour cream and caraway, and it is to die for! Make sure you find a recipe that is good both hot and cold. It's nice to have cold borscht the next day, especially when it's hot weather out.
I really need to join a CSA this year...
Posted by: Eleanor the Great | May 07, 2007 at 09:36 AM