How about a warm-your-heart bowl of cream of cauliflower soup?
2014 saw lots of food trends. While tiny sliders were not celebrated much, healthier and more local burgers were a part of the buzz. Coconut seemed to take some prominence, both in sweet and savory treats. And while kale’s stardom slightly faded, cauliflower rose to the spotlight. Speaking of cauliflower, one trend I could not bring myself to embrace is cauliflower pizza crust. If that’s your thing, please don’t take offense that I don’t share your sentiment. Cauliflower will continue to grace my dinner table in other ways like today’s roasted cauliflower soup.
Eating raw cauliflower may present a challenge to some, particularly those who are not much into veggies. People of the Mediterranean have long enjoyed cauliflower in many forms–fried; broiled; roasted; or even in a casserole with herbs, garlic and tomato sauce! Or in a stew like this cauliflower and chickpea stew of mine. And why not do cauliflower grilled kebab-style? If you want to try it raw, cauliflower is better tossed in a vibrant salad with a spicy vinaigrette of sorts. Just some humble ideas to chew on 
My hubby Saba, the man behind the pictures of this blog, grew up on cauliflower. Fried cauliflower was a staple ingredient in his mom’s famous Maqluba dish, and she made it almost weekly. He tells me that, as a child, he used to stand near her as she fried the cauliflower, and when she wasn’t looking, he would sneakily pop those hot, crispy florets right into his mouth!
It’s challenging for a cook to work next to a snacker with a fairly healthy appetite Saba loves roasted cauliflower almost as much as he loves it fried. I wasn’t about to run out of the ingredient for this soup, so I started with two large heads of cauliflower
The key to this cauliflower soup is in its rustic texture and earthy flavor. This is not a smooth and cheesy soup as you would expect a cream of cauliflower soup to be. While this soup is plenty creamy, there is no cheese in it. I chose to go the “chunky” route, so rather than fully pureeing the cooked cauliflower, you will see that I briefly used an immersion blender. Then for more texture, I added back some whole roasted florets that I had saved aside. The aromatics of the onion and garlic along with the warm flavors of spices like cumin, paprika and turmeric complete the soup with a unique depth of flavor.
Ready? Here is the step-by-step to this cream of roasted cauliflower soup (print-friendly recipe to follow):
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Arrange the cauliflower florets on a large lightly oiled baking sheet; use two baking sheets if you need to. Sprinkle cauliflower with salt and pepper and drizzle generously with olive oil. Roast in 425 degree F-heated oven for 30 minutes, turning over midway through. Remove from oven when browned and ready.
Meanwhile, heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a large heavy pot or Dutch oven. In the heated oil, saute onion until translucent. Add chopped garlic, turmeric, sumac, cumin and paprika. Stir together for a brief few seconds until fragrant.
Now add 3/4 the amount of roasted cauliflower, reserve the rest for later. Stir to coat cauliflower well with the spices then add vegetable broth and water. Bring to a simmer on medium-high heat. Cover and cook for five minutes or until cauliflower tenderizes as it absorbs some of the liquid.
Uncover and remove from heat momentarily. Using an immersion blender, like this one*, blend cauliflower and liquid until you achieve desired smoothness.
Return to a medium heat and stir in heavy cream and lemon juice. Then stir in the remainder of roasted cauliflower florets that you had reserved earlier. Cook briefly so that the soup is all warmed through. Test and add a pinch of salt if needed. Finally, stir in the chopped dill. Serve hot with your favorite bread.
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Cream of Roasted Cauliflower Soup with Paprika, Cumin and Fresh Dill
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Prep time
15 mins
Cook time
55 mins
Total time
1 hour 10 mins
Author: The Mediterranean Dish
Recipe type: Soup
Cuisine: Mediterranean
Serves: 6
Ingredients
2 heads of cauliflower, cut into florets
olive oil
Salt and pepper
1 small sweet onion, chopped
5 garlic cloves, chopped
¼ tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp ground sumac
2 tsp ground cumin
2½ tsp ground paprika
4 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
1 cup water
2½ cups heavy cream
½ lemon, juice of
1 cup chopped fresh dill
Instructions
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
Arrange the cauliflower florets on a large lightly oiled baking sheet; use two baking sheets if you need to. Sprinkle cauliflower with salt and pepper and drizzle generously with olive oil. Roast in 425 degree F-heated oven for 30 minutes, turning over midway through. Remove from oven.
Meanwhile, heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a large heavy pot or Dutch oven. In the heated oil, saute onion until translucent. Add chopped garlic, turmeric, sumac, cumin and paprika. Stir together for a brief few seconds until fragrant.
Now add ¾ the amount of roasted cauliflower, reserve the rest for later. Stir to coat cauliflower well with the spices then add vegetable broth and water.
Bring to a simmer on medium-high heat. Cover and cook for five minutes or until cauliflower tenderizes as it absorbs some of the liquid.
Uncover and remove from heat momentarily. Using and immersion blender, blend cauliflower and liquid until you achieve desired smoothness.
Return to a medium heat and stir in heavy cream and lemon juice. Then stir in the remainder of roasted cauliflower florets you reserved earlier. Cook briefly so that the soup is all warmed through. Test and add a pinch of salt if needed.
Finally, stir in the chopped dill.
Serve hot with your favorite bread.
Notes
If you do not have an immersion blender, you can use a food processor or a regular blender. So for step #6, you can carefully transfer the cauliflower and cooking liquid to a food processor or blender. Pulse or blend to achieve desired smoothness, and then return to the cooking pot and follow remaining instructions.
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