Recipe for roasted cauliflower and potato soup {gluten-free}

It's not easy to learn to love something you have spent a lifetime detesting. For me, that something is cauliflower, so I've decreed that 2013 will be The Year I Learn to Love Cauliflower. Or, if not love, like. When you're incorporating something new into your diet, start with a dish you already know you will eat. In this case, I swapped cauliflower for half of the potatoes in a creamy rich potato soup, and topped it with sharp Cheddar cheese. What's not to love? Stay tuned as I continue my adventures in cauliflower. I'm pinning recipes ideas to a Cauliflower board on Pinterest, so please leave any links to your own favorite recipes in the comments. Then, make this soup. I loved it, and I know you will, too. By the end of the year, I'll be making it without the potatoes. I promise.

Roasted cauliflower and potato soup

From the pantry, you'll need: olive oil, kosher salt, fresh black pepper, onion, thyme, cayenne pepper, Colman's (or other) dry mustard, chicken stock, shredded or grated cheese.

Serves 4.

Ingredients

4 cups roughly diced potatoes (red-skinned new potatoes or Yukon Gold)
4 cups cauliflower florets
Olive oil
1/4 tsp each: kosher salt and fresh black pepper
1 medium onion, peeled and roughly chopped
1/2 tsp dried thyme (or 1 tsp fresh thyme leaves)
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp dry mustard (I use Colman's)
1 qt chicken stock (homemade or low-sodium store-bought)
1/4 to 1/2 cup shredded or grated cheese (I use extra-sharp white Cheddar), plus additional for garnish

Directions

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil, and spread the potatoes and cauliflower in a single layer. Drizzle with 2 teaspoons of olive oil, and sprinkle on salt and pepper. Use your hands to gently toss everything about, then smooth into a single layer again.

Roast the vegetables at 400F for 20 minutes.

In a Dutch oven or heavy soup pot, heat 1 Tbsp olive oil over low heat. Sauté the onion for 2 minutes, until translucent.

Add the roasted vegetables to the soup pot, along with the thyme, cayenne and dry mustard. Stir, and cook for 1 minute. Pour in the chicken stock, raise heat to high, and bring to a boil. Then, reduce heat to simmer, cover the pot, and cook on lowest heat for 25 minutes, until the vegetables are very tender.

Remove the pot from the heat, and purée the soup with an immersion blender. (Or, let the soup cool slightly, process in batches in a standing blender or food processor, and return the soup to the pot.)

Return the pot to the stovetop. Stir in the shredded cheese, until it melts. Taste, and adjust seasoning if necessary with salt and pepper (you will likely not need more salt, as there's salt in the cheese).

Serve hot, garnished with additional cheese, if desired. The soup can be cooled completely, and refrigerated for up to 3 days.

[Printer-friendly recipe.]

More recipes in The Perfect Pantry:
Creamy Indian-spiced vegan sweet potato soup
Leek and red potato soup
Broccoli and cauliflower sformatino
Egg noodle, cheese and cauliflower gratin
Butternut squash, peanut and chipotle soup

Other recipes that use these pantry ingredients:
Curried cauliflower soup, from Shutterbean
Spiced carrot cauliflower soup, from Weelicious
Cauliflower soup with gorgonzola, from 101 Cookbooks
Cauliflower soup with turmeric and hazelnuts, from Chocolate & Zucchini
Curried split pea soup with cauliflower, from FatFree Vegan Kitchen

Roasted cauliflower and potato soup

From the pantry, you'll need: olive oil, kosher salt, fresh black pepper, onion, thyme, cayenne pepper, Colman's (or other) dry mustard, chicken stock, shredded or grated cheese.

Serves 4.

Ingredients

4 cups roughly diced potatoes (red-skinned new potatoes or Yukon Gold)
4 cups cauliflower florets
Olive oil
1/4 tsp each: kosher salt and fresh black pepper
1 medium onion, peeled and roughly chopped
1/2 tsp dried thyme (or 1 tsp fresh thyme leaves)
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp dry mustard (I use Colman's)
1 qt chicken stock (homemade or low-sodium store-bought)
1/4 to 1/2 cup shredded or grated cheese (I use extra-sharp white Cheddar), plus additional for garnish

Directions

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil, and spread the potatoes and cauliflower in a single layer. Drizzle with 2 teaspoons of olive oil, and sprinkle on salt and pepper. Use your hands to gently toss everything about, then smooth into a single layer again.

Roast the vegetables at 400F for 20 minutes.

In a Dutch oven or heavy soup pot, heat 1 Tbsp olive oil over low heat. Sauté the onion for 2 minutes, until translucent.

Add the roasted vegetables to the soup pot, along with the thyme, cayenne and dry mustard. Stir, and cook for 1 minute. Pour in the chicken stock, raise heat to high, and bring to a boil. Then, reduce heat to simmer, cover the pot, and cook on lowest heat for 25 minutes, until the vegetables are very tender.

Remove the pot from the heat, and purée the soup with an immersion blender. (Or, let the soup cool slightly, process in batches in a standing blender or food processor, and return the soup to the pot.)

Return the pot to the stovetop. Stir in the shredded cheese, until it melts. Taste, and adjust seasoning if necessary with salt and pepper (you will likely not need more salt, as there's salt in the cheese).

Serve hot, garnished with additional cheese, if desired. The soup can be cooled completely, and refrigerated for up to 3 days.

[Printer-friendly recipe.]

More recipes in The Perfect Pantry:
Creamy Indian-spiced vegan sweet potato soup
Leek and red potato soup
Broccoli and cauliflower sformatino
Egg noodle, cheese and cauliflower gratin
Butternut squash, peanut and chipotle soup

Other recipes that use these pantry ingredients:
Curried cauliflower soup, from Shutterbean
Spiced carrot cauliflower soup, from Weelicious
Cauliflower soup with gorgonzola, from 101 Cookbooks
Cauliflower soup with turmeric and hazelnuts, from Chocolate & Zucchini
Curried split pea soup with cauliflower, from FatFree Vegan Kitchen

Comments

Lydia, so glad to see you on a cauliflower adventure in 2013! I have to say roasted cauliflower is one of our favorites now, including my oldest son who is not an adventurous vegetable eater. Just wanted to share one of my favorite cauliflower soup recipes (my friends love this one too): http://jeanetteshealthyliving.com/2011/04/creamy-roasted-cauliflower-chestnut-soup.html

Jeanette, I pinned your recipe to my Pinterest board. Can't wait to try it.

I am sure you will be successful, Lydia! This recipe is a winner. You can tell by the ingredients. Plus it's naturally gluten free. :-) I wish I'd picked up some cauliflower yesterday ...

Shirley

Even as a child, I always loved cauliflower. Admitted, my Mom poured a good helping of browned butter on top, but that for me was a meal. Half a head of cauliflower (boiled or steamed) on a plate with browned butter on top. I still get excited when I hear the sizzle when the browned butter is poured over the cauliflower.
Grate a little nutmeg over it and add a little salt and I am good to go. And no, I am otherwise not a fan of veggies in general...
Give it a try, you may be surprised...or maybe not, maybe it's just me :-)

I love your soup bowl, Lydia!
The soup--well, I do love cauliflower, so I imagine I'd love this soup already.
Thanks!

Susanne, browned butter, nutmeg, salt -- I have to try that.

Kirsten, I brought a few pieces of pottery back from a visit to Poland many years ago. I've always loved this little bowl, too. Cauliflower? I'm working on it.

Shirley, thanks for the encouragement. I am determined to succeed!

Mother's Day, late 1950's, I gave my mother "Favorite Recipes from the United Nations - 170 authentic dishes." Authentic? Questionable, but Mom was adventurous, and on October 24th -- UN Day -- she made something from the cookbook from then on. Our favorite was from Iceland, Cauliflower Soup! A simple cream soup, just 1 cauliflower, 6 c liquid, 1/3 c butter, 1/2 c flour, 2 egg yolks (not blended). Delicious, though it seems rich now.
You had a great Kale Year, so I'm sure Cauliflower will conquer!

Susan, what a rich family tradition! And yes, a rich soup, too. I know we could lighten it up, and would it be sacrilege to add some pepper?

I'm glad you are going to embrace cauliflower this year; so many good ways to prepare it!

Kalyn, I am absolutely determined. I learned to love kale last year, and I'm applying the same approach to cauliflower: make things you love, and swap in some cauliflower.

HA! good luck on your "Cauliflower adventure!" Cheese makes everything taste good.
I have to admit that I have always loved every veggie out there even as a kid. (except Okra - too hairy) I just like to eat cauliflower raw, crumbled in salads. But if course roasted and pureed are delish too! In salad, it becomes kinda like a "cabbage" element. Maybe you could incorporate it into a "slaw?"

Carol, I'm with you on okra! I've been thinking about tackling some raw cauliflower recipes in the summer. I realize it's going to take me the entire rest of the year to overcome my inherent distaste for cauliflower, so I welcome all suggestions.

I made this last night because my stomach has been a mess lately. It was so delicious and comforting! I have used potatoes in "cream" soups before -- both broccoli and asparagus and love the results. This is a total keeper. And we loved the little kick the cayenne gives it. Delicious!