cauliflower soup… who knew!?!?
One of my good friends just posted on Facebook today, “it’s soup season”, and I couldn’t agree more. This soup-er (ha) creamy cauliflower soup recipe is from this September-October’s issue of Cook’s Illustrated. It looks so fancy that you feel like you should get dressed up to eat it. I’m writing the recipe pretty much verbatim, because they’ve used a lot of science (and a lot less cream) to get the natural creaminess of the cauliflower to shine. CI found by over cooking half of the cauliflower, under cooking the other half, and utilizing the core, you end up with a non-fibrous soup that does not require cream (cream gives fibrous soup a silken texture). Butter, however? That’s another story. Still, this soup is REALLY GOOD, like so good I’ve made it 3x already and the magazine issue has only been out for like 23 days! Of course, The Hubs was sick a few weeks ago then I caught what he had, so soup has definitely been on the menu for us.
this is pretty much all you need to make awesome soup.
Ok, let’s do this! Get to attacking your cauliflower. Trim off any unpleasant parts. Peel away the leaves and use a paring knife to cut around and remove the core. Trim the core and then thinly slice it and set aside. Take a couple of hunks of the head of the cauliflower and trim those into small florets. You want at least a cup and a half of small florets. Make sure these look perfect because this will become your final garnish. Take the rest of the head of cauliflower and cut it across into 1/2″ wide pieces. Divvy those pieces into halves.
stem slices, florets, and half of the 1/2″ cross-cut head slices
Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a large (mine is 4 quarts, 5 would be best though) saucepan over medium low heat with 1 1/2 teaspoons of sea salt. Add thinly sliced onions (they don’t have to be perfect slices, you are just going to buzz them up in the end) and leeks. Make sure you slit the leeks across to run them through water before slicing. They are always super dirty. Stir your onions and leeks until they are softened, but not browned, about 7-10 minutes.
smells good already!
Increase heat to high and add 4 1/2 cups of water, the sliced core, and half of the 1/2″ cross cut cauliflower. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes are up, add the remaining other half of the cauliflower and continue to cook until it is crumbly and falls apart easily, another 15 to 20 minutes longer. During this 2nd part of undercooking the other half of your cauliflower, get started on your garnish florets and browned butter. Melt 5 tablespoons (I know it seems like a lot but you are only going to use a drizzle’s worth! I swear!) of butter in a sauté pan over medium heat and cook florets until they are deeply brown and the butter is also browned, stirring frequently, this took me 12-14 minutes.
brown it up, yo!
Using a slotted spoon, transfer the florets to a small bowl and toss with vinegar and coarse sea salt, then set aside. Pour browned butter into a small bowl, reserving for garnish.
this is the most delicious part of the meal, literally my mouth is salivating just thinking about it.
You wouldn’t think vinegar on buttery cauliflower would be the best thing you’ve eaten in a while, but OMG is it ever. Ok, time to purée the soup. Ladle the soup into your blender and buzz until smooth. Rinse out your soup pot and return pureed soup to the pot on a low simmer. You may need to add a little water to adjust the consistency. Garnish your bowl of perfect soup with florets in the center, then drizzle the browned butter around the edges. Finish with chopped chives and pepper. Collect marriage proposals and accolades.
beauty, eh?
Cauliflower Soup
- 1 head of normal sized cauliflower (about 2 lbs)
- 7 tablespoons unsalted butter (cut into 7 pieces)
- 1 leek, white and light green parts only, halved and sliced thinly
- 1 small vidalia onion, halved and sliced thinly
- salt & pepper
- 4 1/2 cups water
- 1/2 teaspoon sherry vinegar (If you don’t have sherry vinegar, I used red wine and it was delicious)
- 3 tablespoons fresh chives
1. Clean the cauliflower, pull off the leaves and cut out the core with a paring knife. Trim the core and then slice it thinly. Cut 1 1/2 cups of perfect florets and reserve for much later. Trim rest of cauliflower into 1/2 length cross cuts and divide this portion in half.
2. Melt 2 tablespoons of butter into a 4 or 5 quart saucepan. Over medium low heat, sauté the onion and leek with 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt until softened, but not browned. about 7-10 minutes.
3. Add 4 1/2 cups of water and increase heat to high. Add the half the cross cut cauliflower and the core, bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Let simmer gently for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes have passed, add other half of sliced cauliflower and cook an additional 15-20 minutes, or until it is crumbly.
4. While soup is simmering for the final 15 minutes, melt the remaining 5 tablespoons of butter in a sauté pan and add the florets. Sauté over medium heat until the florets and the butter are both browned, about 12-14 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the florets to a small bowl and toss with vinegar and coarse sea salt, then set aside. Pour browned butter into a small bowl, reserving for garnish.
5. Ladle soup into blender and buzz until smooth. About 45 seconds. Rinse out your soup pot and return soup to the pot over a low simmer. To achieve your desired consistency, you may have to add up to a 1/2 cup more of water. To serve, garnish with florets, chives, and pepper, and drizzle with browned butter.
That looks SERIOUSLY good. Can you make us little shots (or big mugs, whatever) for the next get together?
It’s not that difficult, I swear! Maybe soup shooters next BC….
This looks amazing and I love your descriptions! It sounds just like you. I may get brave and attempt this. It just looks so darn good!
Oh, wow. This looks and sounds delicious!
I just made this. Wow. Soooo good.
So glad you liked it, Lauren!
I saw this when it appeared in my Cook’s Illustrated. Just made it tonight and loved it. The only addition I did was to also saute a few sliced almonds in the butter for garnish along with the florets. Definitely a keeper!
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Did CI say why they have you adding salt at the beginning instead of at the end? I feel a bit nervous about adding it all at once rather than to-taste.
Hi Susan, I checked back with the recipe from the Sept-Oct 2013 issue and the author does not mention why he adds the salt so early in the process. I’m glad the amount you used worked! -Michele
adding salt at the beginning allows liquids to release so no browning occurs.
Just tried this, and it is awesomely delicious! Made it exactly as written above EXCEPT chickened out on the salt and used only 1 tsp. That tasted just right to us. The blend of flavors is exquisite AND I cannot believe how creamy it tastes. Excellent. Also happy that it uses the core, which usually gets thrown out at our house.
I followed the recipe exactly, and this was as lovely as soup gets. Silky, creamy texture, the vinager added a nice bright note. This on is going in the recipe box.
Glad you liked it, Marko! This recipe is definitely a keeper.