Spusht: cream of cauliflower soup recipe

At dinner when I served this soup to Alok, I asked him to guess what soup it is. He could not guess.

Here is a recipe of vegetarian cauliflower soup I am sharing with you. At least try halving the recipe and make the soup today. Then let your family guess; let's see if they can figure out the taste of cauliflower in this creamy cauliflower soup.

cream of cauliflower soup

Cream of Cauliflower Soup Recipe
Adapted from book Joy of Cooking
Serves about 4-6 people

1 Tbsp butter

½ cup chopped onions

½ - ¾ cup chopped celery (optional)

2 cups chopped cauliflower

1 Tbsp all-purpose flour

2 cups water or vegetable stock

2 Tbsp heavy cream, half and half, or 3 Tbsp milk

Pinch nutmeg powder

Salt and black pepper powder to taste

Grated cheese for garnishing

cream of cauliflower soup recipe

1. Melt butter in a medium pot or pan on medium heat. You can use olive oil instead for a vegan soup.

2. Add onions and celery, sauté until onions turn translucent. Even without celery the soup tastes good and you can hardly miss any taste of celery.

3. Add cauliflower, sauté until well mixed. If you have chopped cauliflower in small pieces, sautéing would be enough. If you were lazy or did not have time and left as big florets, cover and cook few minutes. If you would like a little roasted-cauliflower-taste in your soup, sauté a little longer.

4. Add all-purpose flour, mix well. Adding more all-purpose flour will give a weird taste. And not sautéing all-purpose flour well and leaving it raw will also give a weird taste. You can skip this step if you do not want to add flour.

5. Add water. Cover and let boil until cauliflower tender, about 10 minutes. If water starts to come out of your pot or pan, cook partially covered, or, cook covered on medium-low heat for 20-25 minutes. The mixture does not need to be cooked completely right now because we are going to heat it up again in Step 6.

6. If your food processor, immersion blender, or magic bullet kind of blender can tolerate hot liquids, then go ahead and process it until smooth. Otherwise, let it reach until room temperature, then puree until smooth.

7. Pour the soup back into the pot or pan, heat it on medium but not until it starts boiling. If you are happy with the consistency, add salt, black pepper, nutmeg powder and heavy cream/milk (or non-flavored soy milk for vegan soup). Don't let it boil too much after adding milk/cream.

If your cauliflower soup is creamy enough, which - because of less water - the soup does not become liquidy/runny/watery, then you can even skip the milk. But it sure helps gives a nice creamy texture and taste. Your vegetarian cream of cauliflower soup is ready.

Cauliflower Soup

How can you make this cauliflower soup a healthier soup? Skip the butter, flour, and cream or milk. Use vegetable stock instead of water.

Is the soup too thick? Add a little water and bring to a boil. Is the soup watery? Let it boil a little longer. Is the soup way too watery? Last option, mix some corn starch in small amount of water and add, let boil until your desired consistency.

Garnish the creamy cauliflower soup with grated cheese, or your own creative garnishes, and serve hot. May be serve the soup along with bread. Or have it before you start your meal. Or slurp it during one of the cold days.