Roasted Cauliflower Cheese Soup
Velvety roasted cauliflower cheese soup – a match in heaven. Cauliflowers are in peak season in November - making this soup budget-friendly, vitamin-packed, and it freezes beautifully!
Servings: 4
Calories: 348kcal
Equipment
- 1 Medium large casserole/saucepan with lid
- 1 Large baking tray
Ingredients
- 1 cauliflower medium
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion diced
- 1 celery stick diced
- 1 clove garlic grated or crushed
- 500 ml chicken or vegetable stock
- 500 ml milk
- 150 g mature cheddar cheese grated
- 4 sprigs of fresh thyme
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 180 °C
- Break the cauliflower into florets around 3cm/1”. Put them in a large bowl, and add in 1 tbsp of the olive oil and season. Toss the florets well.
- Spread the florets out on a baking tray and put in the oven for 30 minutes, flipping them over halfway through, until the edges are catching and turning a light brown.
- Meanwhile, add the remaining 1 tbsp of olive oil to your large pan and gently fry your diced onion and celery on a medium heat for around 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add in the crushed garlic clove and the leaves from 2 sprigs of thyme, and cook for another couple of minutes.
- Pour in your stock and milk and warm gently until simmering.
- When the cauliflower is ready, set aside a small handful of 'cauliflower popcorn' to decorate the soup, and gently tip the rest into the pan and allow the flavours to infuse over a medium heat for 5 minutes.
- Add in your grated cheese and stir until melted.
- Either with a stick blender (or carefully transferring to a standalone blender), you need to puree the soup until lovely and smooth. If you have used a stand-alone blender, at this point pour the soup back into your pan to warm through until gently bubbling.
- Serve the soup in bowls with a sprinkling of the remaining fresh thyme leaves, and the reserved 'cauliflower popcorn', alongside some lovely crusty bread for dunking if you wish.
Notes
- You can use a mix of cheeses for this dish, just ensure that they are strong in flavour and melt. A combination of cheddar and a blue cheese works really well.
- This recipe is a great way to use up the leftover Christmas cheeseboard!
Nutrition
Calories: 348kcal | Carbohydrates: 19g | Protein: 17g | Fat: 24g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 9g | Cholesterol: 49mg | Sodium: 496mg | Potassium: 740mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 9g | Vitamin A: 537IU | Vitamin C: 73mg | Calcium: 392mg | Iron: 1mg