by ChezSuzanne
View
my 123 other recipes »
A&M's Testing Notes:
Expand CollapseChezSuzanne's Notes:
Expand
1
head cauliflower, sliced, including the core
Ask the
hotline about
this ingredient!
3 tablespoons
unsalted butter
Ask the
hotline about
this ingredient!
1 tablespoon
olive oil
Ask the
hotline about
this ingredient!
1/2
yellow onion, diced
Ask the
hotline about
this ingredient!
1
leek, light green parts only, diced
Ask the
hotline about
this ingredient!
1/2 teaspoon
garlic, chopped
Ask the
hotline about
this ingredient!
2
ribs of celery, diced
Ask the
hotline about
this ingredient!
1 teaspoon
salt
Ask the
hotline about
this ingredient!
1 cup
chicken broth
Ask the
hotline about
this ingredient!
2 1/2 - 3 cups
water
Ask the
hotline about
this ingredient!
1 tablespoon
parmesan cheese
Ask the
hotline about
this ingredient!
2 tablespoons
heavy cream
Ask the
hotline about
this ingredient!
Preheat the oven to 350F. Place the slices of cauliflower on a dry cookie sheet and roast until tender, about 15-20 minutes.
Ask the hotline about this step!In a large heavy pot, heat the butter and oil until hot. Saute the onion, leek, garlic, and celery in the butter oil mixture until soft and very aromatic. Add the salt. Add the roasted cauliflower and toss with a large spoon until the cauliflower is completely covered with the onion mixture. Cook for another 2 minutes.
Ask the hotline about this step!Add the broth and water. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 5 minutes. Puree in a blender until fairly smooth. If you want it completely smooth, you'll need to use a food mill, but having some texture to it adds to the rustic nature of the roasted flavor. Pour back into the pot and reheat to a simmer. Add the parmesan cheese and cream. Stir in the chimichurri sauce until well incorporated. Serve hot in soup bowls. Drizzle some poblano creme fraiche over the soup.
Ask the hotline about this step!
1
serrano chili, seeded, coarsely chopped
Ask the
hotline about
this ingredient!
2
garlic cloves, peeled and coarsely chopped or smashed
Ask the
hotline about
this ingredient!
2 cups
cilantro leaves
Ask the
hotline about
this ingredient!
2 tablespoons
mint leaves
Ask the
hotline about
this ingredient!
5-6 tablespoons
olive oil
Ask the
hotline about
this ingredient!
1/2 tablespoon
fresh lemon juice
Ask the
hotline about
this ingredient!
1/2 teaspoon
kosher salt
Ask the
hotline about
this ingredient!
1
poblano or pasilla pepper, roasted, peeled and seeded
Ask the
hotline about
this ingredient!
2
garlic cloves, peeled
Ask the
hotline about
this ingredient!
1/8 teaspoon
kosher salt
Ask the
hotline about
this ingredient!
1 tablespoon
olive oil
Ask the
hotline about
this ingredient!
2 tablespoons
heavy cream
Ask the
hotline about
this ingredient!
2 tablespoons
creme fraiche
Ask the
hotline about
this ingredient!
To make the chimichurri, place the first 7 ingredients in a blender and process until finely chopped. This is a very versatile chimichurri - I've used it on pork, in omelets with Manchego Spanish cheese, and in this soup.
Ask the hotline about this step!To make the poblano creme fraiche, combine the next seven ingredients starting wtih the roasted poblano or pasilla pepper in a blender and process until very smooth. Once smooth, I put it into a squirt bottle that allows for different pipe tips, and squeeze the creme fraiche on the soup. This creme fraiche also works well as a spread on sandwiches.
Ask the hotline about this step!Wow! Thank you so much!! What a wonderful way for me to start my day with your generous comment. I'm so glad you enjoyed it so much!!!
So so so good! Man. Delicious!
I used veggie broth and plain Greek yogurt instead of heavy cream and welll, it might just be my favorite soup ever.
I'm making it with yogurt next time too! Thanks so much for your feedback - I'm so glad you liked it so much. You made my day!
I made this the other night and loved it - who knew chimichurri would be so good with cauliflower! This is definetly going on the repeat list.
It IS surprising what a great match they are - I agree! For something simpler with this combination, try slicing the cauliflower in thick slabs and roasting it and then drizzle the chimichurri on it to serve. I'm so glad you loved this soup. Thanks for letting me know!
I'm so glad you enjoyed it! Thanks so much for letting me know!
We loved this soup, but I only had a purple cauliflower at home (maybe it was broccoli romanesco? it came in my CSA box without a list last week) and I found: the color was a bit weird, to be expected, but also, the chimichurri was slightly overpowering. Anyone else have that? Could be,since there is no specific weight for cauliflower given, that mine was a bit light and I needed to ramp it up for more cauli flavor. It was still yummy, and I'll do it again. I,too,used veg. stock instead of chicken, but like the idea of light sour cream.
Just seeing this for the first time now - just delicious. Will make soon!
Thanks healthierkitchen!! I'd love to hear what you think if you make it!
OMG! This is on the menu for my next dinner party.
Hey thanks HLA!! I really hope you like it! Let me know if you try it!!
Thank you very, very much for this absolutely DELICIOUS recipe! I made this last night and savored every spoonful. It's definitely a keeper and I can't wait to have another bowl tonight!
Wow! Thanks so much - I'm so glad you liked it! You've made my day!
Wow! I made this for dinner tonight and it is absolutely amazing!! The only thing I changed was using veggie stock instead of water and chicken stock and for the creme fraiche (to make it a bit more healthy), I substituted light sour cream for the cream and creme fraiche. Thank you!
Hey thanks McPoLanders!! I'm really happy you liked it so much! And I really appreciate the feedback. I'm thinking of making a pot of it tomorrow - I always love to have soup when it's cold and rainy outside :-)
Made a variation of this the other night with what I had on hand. Awesome. Had to use Pecorino rinds in the broth, and used a homemade veg stock and sweated everything in bacon fat but the proportions and compliments to this recipe were PERFECT. Roasting is key and the cheese is not an overpowering addition. Such a good guide. It was wonderful.
Thanks so much for the feedback! I'm so glad you liked it so much and really glad the directions worked so well for you!
Loved the cauliflower soup !
Hey thanks! I'm really glad it worked for you!
Wow. This soup sounds amazing. I often cook Daniel Boulud's Cauliflower with Apples and curry soup, but this one is so different I can't wait to try it. Thank you.
Thanks so much. I hope you like it!
This was my super bowl pick. I am a sucker for chimichurri sauce and spicy food and I loved the layers of flavor in this soup. It really opens up so many possibilities for adding zip to other mild soups. Thanks!
Me too! I love spicy food. I'm so glad you enjoyed it - thanks for the comments!
Oh my goodness, this sounds heavenly. Do you think you could use a soaked dried poblano if you don't have fresh on hand?
Great question! I'm lucky enough to live where we get these peppers fresh year-round, so I'm honestly not sure if the dried would have a more intense flavor that would overwhelm the roasted cauliflower flavor or not. You could go with dried, which would be ancho chilies I believe, and just use half of it to test the flavor. And then add more into the blender until you get the flavor and spice balance you prefer. Or you could substitute Anaheim peppers - just make sure to roast, seed and skin them as they have a tough skin.
I have all of these ingredients in my fridge; I am going to make this tonight- it looks divine! Congrats! I make a very similar pablano crema sauce that I serve as a condiment to taco- so good!
Hope you enjoyed it last night!! And I agree, I keep the poblano crema sauce in a squirt container in the frig and put it on all kinds of things to add a little softened heat.
Okay, ChefSuzanne, here is a small challenge . . . . if you wanted to serve this soup to someone who could not, for health reasons, eat chilis or peppers, what would you use to flavor the Creme Fraiche? The soup alone looks heavenly, but a squirt of something flavorful in a creme fraiche base would make it even more divine. Any ideas (anyone)??
Off the top of my head, I would consider melting cheese and whisking the creme fraiche into it - like manchego cheese, Gruyere. The roasted flavors would go well with a cheddar too, but it wouldn't mix well with the chimichurri. So if you went with cheddar I'd nix the chimichurri (which also has serrano peppers in it). If you nix the chimichurri, you could flavor the creme fraiche with curry. That would go great with the roasted cauliflower flavor. I'm sure there are other ideas, and am interested in hearing what other people think.
These are terrific ideas! I'll look forward to seeing what others come up with, too. The variations are what make a dish like this so wonderful. You start with something fundamentally delicious, and just make it better in a lot of different ways. With all the brilliant minds here, this is going to be good!
I've not been able to go on this site much the last few weeks as we were out of town in the mountains for the holidays, had houseguests, and then I was getting ready for my first catering event and cooking class which all took place yesterday. What a wonderful surprise this was when I went online and visited this site after a looooong day. Thanks Amanda and Merrill for selecting this recipe of mine!!
Thanks!!
Can't wait to try this as roasted cauliflower is a favorite of mine. Thanks for the recipe.
You're welcome. Hope you enjoy it!
I wonder if one could substitute the Creme Fraiche wiith a non fat yogurt, like Faje?
I haven't tried it, but on the surface of it I can't see a reason it wouldn't work well. Yogurt has more "tangyness" than creme fraiche, so the flavor will be slightly affected, but it's always fun to try different versions with various substitutions. Sometimes that's how you come up with something even better!
As a committed lover of all things cauliflower, I can't wait to try this one . . . . I've never roasted a cauliflower before, and was just thinking, yesterday, that I need to try it, having had such amazing success with the roasted Brusslies, using Tad's method. Thank you, Chez Suzanne, for posting this!
Thanks so much! I've always simmered cauliflower in some kind of broth mixture, but found that the delicate flavor of cauliflower prepared this way could easily be overpowered by later additions to the dish like cheese or peppers. This was my first attempt at roasting the cauliflower to bring up the flavor more. Hope you enjoy it too!
Loving your recipes - this looks fantastic. Could be great with the Southwestern Christmas dinner I'm going to make this year!
Thanks so much! I love southwestern cooking. I do a Southwestern Thanksgiving and like your idea of a Southwestern Christmas dinner. Enjoy!
This soup is so fantastic. Someone served it to me at a dinner party and I practically jumped across the table to get the recipe from him, then made it myself the very next day. I subbed parsley for the cilantro in the chimichurri because I had it on hand and it was still delicious!