Roasted Cauliflower and Smoked Gouda Soup... Tastes like Autumn!

The other day, I was in the mood for something hearty and comforting, but still somewhat healthy... thankfully, I have recently become addicted to Pinterest, which you should really check out if you haven't already (let me know if you need an invite! I have more). Some smart person pinned this soup, and I knew I had to make it immediately.

Unfortunately, the original recipe involved a lot of things like egg yolks and heavy cream, so I knew I had some work to do. Here is my version.

-1 onion, chopped

-1 head cauliflower

-1c white wine

-1 clove garlic

-2 bay leaves

-1 tsp Worcestershire sauce (good, but optional)

-1/4tsp cayenne (just a little heat, it is not a spicy soup at all)

-4 oz smoked Gouda (could use cheddar, or other smoked cheese)

-1/2 squeezed lemon

-4c broth of your choice

-1c milk product of your choice (I used unsweetened almond milk)

-salt/pepper

-2 tbsp olive oil

-2 tbsp flour

First things first... the cauliflower. I wanted to roast it. But, it occurred to me that since I was going to blend it, how I cut it was pretty much irrelevant. So, I decided to cut it ~1 inch slices, to make it roast evenly.

The nice part about this is, it just looks so pretty! I misted it with some olive oil and roasted at 400 until it was very soft and looked like this:

It only got prettier! Now I want to find some way to use this technique that doesn't end with a blender.

Next, the soup itself. Brown the chopped onion in the olive oil, then toss in the garlic for a minute or so. Sprinkle in the flour, and stir around to make a paste (this will serve as a thickener. however, while this is already fairly low carb, if you want to make it lower, it will probably be fine to leave it out- just save one of the cups of broth out and add it slowly as you blend the soup at the end to control the texture to make sure it isn't too watery). 

Cook the mixture briefly, then pour in the cup of wine. Cook for a minute, then add the broth, bay leaf, Worcestershire, and cayenne. Roughly break up the cauliflower and add it to the broth. Bring to a boil, then turn down and let simmer for about 10 minutes. (note: if you don't feel up to roasting, you can always just use raw cauliflower at this step, and cook it longer in the broth, until soft. I think roasted tastes better, though). 

Now, the fun part! Turn off the heat, remove the bay leaf, and get out the immersion blender (you can also use a regular blender or food processor, if you'd like). Blend the soup mixture until it's as smooth as you can get it. Then add the grated cheese- don't boil after you add the cheese, but keep it warm so it melts. As the last step, add the lemon juice, and salt and pepper.

It's amazing how hearty this feels, given that it's almost entirely cauliflower and broth, and there is less than an ounce of cheese per serving. But, it was just delicious!

(Side note- the salad you see there is a really nice light fennel citrus salad we learned to make at a cooking class (our first cooking class ever). If you're looking for a good class and live in LA, San Diego, Portland, or Seattle or I want to give a shout out to Hipcooks- we had so much fun at our class last weekend!)