Cauliflower Cheddar Soup

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Nothing warms you up on a cold night more than a good bowl of Soup. This one is an absolute treat too if we do say so ourselves. This Garlic, Cheddar and Cauliflower Soup is packed full of so much flavor and beautiful textures

This dish is something we developed off the back of creating the amazing Braised Beef Cheeks with Pedro Ximenez recipe, which comes alongside some beautiful Cauliflower Puree. The Puree is quite light, so by simply adding a little bit more cream to the dish you get a lovely soup-like consistency

So, to completely ramp this recipe up we’ve added the legendary duo of Roasted Garlic and Cheddar Cheese. I don’t care what you’re cooking, you add Roasted Garlic and Cheddar Cheese to the dish, it’s going to taste good! Well, we can proudly say that this dish is absolutely no exception. In fact, the Garlic, Cheddar and Cauliflower Soup might just go down as one of our favorite soups we’ve made!

How to prepare the Cauliflower for Cauliflower Cheddar Soup

This dish requires the Cauliflower to be poached in Cream and Butter. This not only helps to achieve the silky-smooth texture when the soup is blended, but it also maintains a beautiful white color. An alternative option for the Cauliflower is to Roast it to get some of those lovely roast-like caramel flavors out of the Cauliflower. Poaching however is an amazing approach which tastes great and delivers a pure Cauliflower flavor

When poaching the Cauliflower, do so at a low temperature. This is important for a few reasons. First, the Cauliflower will cook beautifully and evenly throughout. Given the dish is going to be going into the blender, it’s important that the pieces of Cauliflower are all cooked to the same temperature. A low heat will help achieve this

Secondly, as we are poaching the Cauliflower with dairy ingredients (Butter and Cream), there is a risk they will curdle if cooked at a high temperature. You want to keep the temperature low to avoid anything more than a gentle simmer of the liquids. If the Cream curdles, it will ruin the dish. So set the temperature low, and keep your eye on the pot throughout the cooking process

Finally, and this is purely cosmetic, we’d recommend using White Cheddar in this recipe. Only because the White Cheddar will keep the soup color white, which is what we’re going for. It’s not a deal breaker at all, any Cheddar will do, and it will still taste amazing

We highly recommend including Roasted Garlic in this dish

This step will add some time to the overall cooking of the dish, but it is well worth it. Roasted Garlic has such an amazing sweet, richness to it. It’s the perfect ingredient to add to a soup that is looking for a bit more sweetness

To roast the Garlic, you’ll need to add around 1 hour to the overall cooking time of this dish. It does require a bit more commitment that’s for sure. But, in the grand scheme of all things cooking – does 1 hour really matter when it comes to great flavor? Surely not!

Roasting Garlic is easy. Cut the top of the Garlic bulb off to expose the flesh inside. Wrap the Garlic in aluminum foil, leaving the top exposed. Drizzle a generous amount of Olive Oil and Salt into the Garlic, then seal it all up and roast for 1 hour at 375F in the oven

Once cooked, remove the Garlic from the foil and let cool for about 15 minutes. Then, simply peel away the skin and you’re left with the amazing, sweet Garlic. The Garlic is added to the Soup when blended to give the Cauliflower Cheddar Soup more depth of flavor. Highly recommended!

Compliment the velvety texture of the Cauliflower Soup with some tasty toppings

It goes without saying that contrasting textures make for great dishes. This delicious Cauliflower Cheddar Soup is quite hearty, yet still has a lovely smooth texture to it. Perfectly fine to eat by itself, however we love to add some crunchy elements. They add a lovely texture to the recipe, as well as some brilliant flavors!

For this recipe we recommend frying up some Crispy Bacon. Chop it into small bites and sprinkle them liberally over the soup just before serving. A lovely texture and a beautiful salty addition to the Soup is your reward!

Croutons are another great addition for texture. Sure you could make your own croutons from scratch, but who has time for that these days? Just buy some nice pre-packaged croutons from the store. They’re perfectly fine and if anything, have an even crunchier texture! Just a couple of watch outs for the Croutons however. First, chop them up with a knife so they’re quite small pieces. Much easier to eat that way. Secondly, check the Salt content of the store bought Croutons. Sometimes they have quite a lot, so just be wary of that when seasoning the dish

Cauliflower Cheddar Soup Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 head of Cauliflower, chopped
• 4 tbsp. Unsalted Butter
• 300 ml / 7 fl. oz. Heavy Cream
• 1 Garlic Bulb
• 2 cups Cheddar Cheese, grated
• ½ cup Scallions, finely chopped
• 4 Bacon Rashers
• ½ cup Croutons, roughly chopped
• 1 tsp. Olive Oil
• Salt
  
  

Instructions

1. First step is to roast the Garlic. Cut the tip of the Garlic off so that the top of the cloves are just exposed. Wrap the Garlic with aluminum foil leaving the top of the bulb uncovered
2. Pour the Olive Oil and 1 tsp. of Salt into the opening, then seal tight with foil. Roast in the Oven at 375F for 1 hour
3. Place the Cauliflower, Butter, and Heavy Cream into a Saucepan, cover and heat over low for 35 minutes
4. While the Cauliflower is cooking, heat a separate frying pan over medium heat. Add the Bacon and cook for 6-7 minutes, flipping once until beautiful and crispy. Set aside to cool, then cut into small pieces just before serving
5. Check that the Cauliflower is nice and tender, then remove from heat and pour into a blender.
6. Add the Roasted Garlic to the Cauliflower mixture and then blend until smooth. It should take 1-2 minutes on a high setting. We want a smooth, velvety texture. Once done, check for seasoning and adjust if necessary
7. Pour the Soup into individual serving bowls and finish with a sprinkling of Bacon, Croutons, and Scallions. Serve as is, or with some delicious crusty bread to mop up all the delicious Soup
   
   

This is a beautiful Soup dish that will surely suffice for a full meal. It is also a great appetizer, just reduce the portion size and then serve alongside some of our delicious Dinner recipes found here. Beef is a good choice for pairing, so dive into these beautiful Beef Dishes

If you enjoyed this Cauliflower Cheddar Soup recipe and are starving for more yummy Soup recipes then we’ve got you covered! Head on over to our Soup page here (LINK) and browse our extensive recipes for your next Soup meal. Here are a few of our favorites that we would recommend:

• Beef and Barley Soup with Vegetables
• Creamy Shrimp Bisque
• Potato and Leek Soup with Roast Garlic
• Creamy Tomato Soup
  
  

Happy Cooking!