White on the ground, white in the trees, white on the brain. Also soup. It’s cold! Probably because it’s winter.
The plan was to continue this week’s snow hued theme, spooning up something similarly blanched but warming, which led us to several tempting sounding marcona almond and garlic recipes (sopa de almendras & ajo blanco). Awesome, except we were fresh out of the Spanish nuts and the road to the nearest market that might carry them was virutally a Subaru slip and slide. As the rustic bread soup is usually served chilled, it made sense to save its making for summer. Still, we had plenty of stinking rose bulbs, cream, French bread, and a head of cauliflower – white! – so thought we’d blend up a mishmash of two potages that generally feature similar ingredients. Everything was smelling amazing and looking incredible, except…
the color.
Substituting vegetable stock in place of chicken pretty much pushed the tint more into the light brown range. It’s in keeping with the neutrals though, right? Definitely delicious.
| creamy garlic & cauliflower soup | Print |
- ½ head cauliflower, separated, plus a few florets to toast as garnish
- 1 TB olive oil
- 1 TB butter
- 1 shallot, chopped
- 8-10 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 quart vegetable stock (or chicken)
- ½ cup sherry or white wine
- 4 TB finely grated Parmesan
- 1 cup day old bread, cut into cubes
- ¾ cup cream
- salt & pepper to taste
- heat the oil and butter on low then add the shallot and garlic
- cook until very soft, appox 20 minutes
- once browned, pour in the stock and bring to a boil
- reduce heat and drop in the bread and cauliflower pieces
- let simmer for 15 minutes
- remove from burner and let cool a bit
- puree with an immersion blender (or food processor)
- return pot to stove and whisk in the cream
- bring back to a boil then remove from heat and stir in sherry or wine
- salt & pepper to taste
- ladle into bowls, garnishing each with 1 TB of cheese and a few toasted florets
We bet potatoes would be equally tasty if you don’t have cauliflower on hand.
