Creamy Roasted Cauliflower and Asiago Soup

Cauliflower is such a versatile vegetable that has recently been used in more and more ways. In a world where cauliflower can morph into almost anything, how about we let it shine for its own sake in a starring role? Cauliflower soup has been around forever, but we’ve never had one that we fell in love with. So off we went, trying to find a way to capture a good cauliflower flavor with complementary additions that would make us want to make it often. This Creamy Roasted Cauliflower and Asiago Soup is creamy and delicious with the perfect balance of flavors to enjoy on a cold day!

Roasting Cauliflower

Roasting the cauliflower is the first step in building flavor in this creamy cauliflower soup. The slightly caramelized florets of cauliflower bring sweetness and beneficial bitterness to the soup at the same time. This step is necessary to add depth to the flavor profile in this recipe.

Roasting the cauliflower couldn’t be easier as well! The key here is to ensure that you roast the cauliflower long enough so that it is very soft. We roast the cauliflower florets in a single layer at 375°F for 40 minutes total with a flip halfway through. This may seem like a long time, but again, the goal is for the cauliflower to caramelize a bit and become super tender so that it easily blends.

Vegetable Stock Soup Base

The next important component in this recipe is using good vegetable stock and some complementary fresh herbs and spices, namely thyme and coriander. We can’t emphasize enough how important it is to use good quality vegetable stock. If you make your own vegetable stock, this is a bonus! But if not, make sure that the vegetable broth or stock is good enough that you would be able to have it on its own.

We also enjoy having cream as a base for the soup as well, combining it with a high-quality vegetable stock, to build flavors.

Asiago Cheese in Cauliflower Soup

Finally, some asiago cheese finishes the dish with depth of flavor and a slight cheesiness. We love using asiago cheese for this recipe due to the creamy texture. Asiago is somewhat similar to parmesan but with a bit more nuttiness. It pairs so well with cauliflower and the creaminess adds body to the soup in a beautiful way!

Achieving the Creamy Soup Texture

Achieving the smooth and creamy texture of the soup is achieved through blending. Immersion blenders just don’t accomplish the job well enough in our opinion. Neither does a food processor. The blender is the tool to get this soup to a consistency that has texture but is not lumpy. If you don’t have a blender, you can still make this soup using an immersion blender or food processor, but the texture won’t be as smooth.

Crispy Garnish of Prosciutto

The prosciutto is a major flavor addition as well as pitching in with salt content. If you are vegetarian and decide to forego the prosciutto, then you’ll probably need a little bit more salt to compensate. If you aren’t vegetarian, don’t skip the prosciutto!

If you are feeling fancy, we also including instructions to make parmesan tuiles. This is a great way to make the soup a bit elevated for a party or gathering. The soup can be served as an appetizer for up to 8 people, or as a dinner soup for 4 people.

Enjoy!

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Creamy Roasted Cauliflower and Asiago Soup

Course: Appetizers, Soups u0026amp; StewsCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy

Servings

servings

Prep time

minutes

Cooking time

hour

Total time

hour

minutes

This makes 4 dinner servings or 8 appetizer servings

Ingredients

For the Soup
1 head 1 cauliflower
2 tablespoon 2 extra virgin olive oil
3 teaspoon 3 kosher salt – divided
4 cups 4 vegetable stock
2 tablespoon 2 unsalted butter
1 small 1 onion, diced
Pinch black pepper
1 teaspoon 1 dried thyme
1 1 garlic clove
1 1 ½ teaspoon ground coriander
2 cups 2 heavy cream
1 tablespoon 1 fresh thyme, finely chopped (plus more for garnish)
6 oz 6 grated asiago cheese
For the Garnish (Parmesan Tuiles & Crispy Prosciutto)
200 g 200 (2+ cups) freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 slices 2 prosciutto

Directions

Prepare the Garnishes
For the Parmesan tuiles, heat your oven to 400°F. Using a parchment-lined baking sheet, place 8 small mounds of grated Parmesan, spacing them out enough to allow them to spread. Place them in the oven for 10 minutes. Remove and let them cool just until you can handle them. Place them on a rack to cool or you can mold them into a shape and allow them to cool in a shape. Set aside until you serve the soup.
For the prosciutto, heat a skillet over medium heat. Place the prosciutto slices in the hot pan for about 15 seconds, flip for another 15 seconds and remove to a paper towel. Once cooled, you can make thin slices or dice or finely chopped pieces. Set aside until you serve the soup.
Prepare the Soup
Preheat your oven to 375°F. In a big soup pot or large saucepan, add the vegetable stock. Set the stock aside until your cauliflower is done. Break your cauliflower down leaving large florets.
On a sheet tray, add the cauliflower and drizzle with olive oil. Move the cauliflower around so it is somewhat coated. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of the salt and roast for 20 minutes. Flip the cauliflower over and return the tray to the oven and roast for an additional 20 minutes. Turn the oven off. If the cauliflower is tender, place the pieces in the pot with the stock. If not quite tender enough (it should have little to no resistance to a knife or skewer), place the tray into the oven (that is now off) and let it sit for an additional 10 minutes or so. When it is done, add the cauliflower to the stock.
Meanwhile, you can sauté the onion. In a skillet over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the onion and sauté until translucent. Toward the end of cooking, add the pinch of pepper and thyme to the sauté pan. Once the onion is done cooking – you want it to be cooked but not caramelized (without any browning) – add the mixture to the stock.
Add the garlic clove and the coriander to the stock and bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to a gentle simmer on low and simmer for 20 minutes, uncovered. Remove the stock from the heat and pour it into a blender and secure the blender lid. VERY CAREFULLY begin to blend the mixture. This will take time, as you want it as smooth as you can, but if you turn the blender on too high it may explode with hot liquid everywhere. So do this slowly until everything is blended well.
Once blended, pour soup back into the pot over low heat and stir in the cream and additional 2 teaspoon of salt. Cook for 10 minutes on a low heat. Add the 1 tablespoon of fresh thyme and the grated asiago cheese and cook for an additional 5 minutes, taste for seasoning, add salt if desired. Serve with the prosciutto, Parmesan tuiles, and a sprinkling of fresh thyme.