It’s that time of year – the clocks have gone back, it’s cold, damp and dark. We need comfort food. I hope the baking followers are not too disappointed with a blog or two on great autumn and winter food. I’m also on a mission to eat more vegetables – not that easy for someone who doesn’t really like salad.

This roasted cauliflower soup ticks all the boxes. And it is suitable for those on a keto or low carb diet. Easy to make a vegan version – omit the bacon and swap in some grated vegan cheese at the end. If you’re trying for a vegan version be careful about stock cubes – even vegetable stock cubes may not be vegan.

The cauliflower is oven roasted before being included in the soup. This gives another layer of flavour to the soup, making it even more satisfying. If you’ve never had roasted cauliflower before you may find yourself just eating the roasted cauliflower and abandoning the soup. At least the first time.

My soup comes out with a dark tint because of the rich vegetable stock I use, my tendency towards lots of black pepper and very caramelised cauliflower. You could use a lighter chicken stock and less pepper if you wanted a whiter soup.

The Davinator has suggested an explanatory note. I made the soup, garnished it and then we ate it. Forgetting to take a photo. So the next day when we ate the leftovers I said ‘where is the leftover bacon?’. Apparently ‘someone’ had eaten the rest of the bacon. So we tore some lovely prosciutto into shreds and had that on our soup.

Makes four generous servings of soup.

Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 large cauliflower head
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Sea salt
• Black pepper
• 200 grams unsmoked bacon lardons
• 3 additional tablespoons of olive oil
• 1 large leek, chopped small
• 2 celery stalks, chopped small
• 1 large carrot, chopped small
• 2 garlic cloves, diced
• 30 mls cooking brandy
• 2 vegetable stock cubes
• Approximately one litre of boiling water
• 50 grams of cheddar cheese
• Fresh chopped chives or parsley to garnish

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 220C (450f).
2. Put 2 tablespoons of olive oil, with sea salt and pepper in a roasting tin and then in the oven.
3. Chop the cauliflower into florets. Don’t need to be elegant, you’re going to blend the soup at the end. However, you want smaller florets for more even caramelisation and quicker cooking.
4. Carefully remove the hot roasting tin, tip the cauliflower in and stir to coat the florets in the hot oil and spices. Put the tin back in the oven and roast for 15 minutes. Meanwhile work on the other vegetables and soup base.
5. Use a deep heavy bottomed stock pot – coat the bottom with additional olive oil then add the bacon lardons. Cook until crisp. Remove from the stock pot with a slotted spoon and drain on some paper towel.
6. Add the vegetables and the garlic to the pot. Cook over medium heat until well wilted. Add the cooking brandy, turn the heat to high and burn off the alcohol.
7. Turn back to medium heat. Drop the stock cubes in, add the hot water and bring to a boil, dissolving the stock cubes.
8. Add the cauliflower and bring to a simmer. Cook for 5 minutes.
9. Puree your soup using a stick blender or your actual blender.
10. Grate the cheese and chop the herbs.
11. Serve in bowls topped with cheese, bacon and herbs.

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Tags: cauliflower soupketo cauliflower souproasted cauliflower soupvegan cauliflower soup