Johnny asked: "Any ideas on what I could use to make an interesting soup based on cauliflower?"
Cauliflower is an excellent choice for soups because, like other cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli and cabbage, the more you cut them, the more pungent they become. In a pureed soup, cauliflower's flavour really comes out. To balance it, you can use potatoes, cream, or milk.
The two soups I have made in the past are pictured above - on the left is creamy cauliflower soup, made with leeks, milk, and potatoes. On the right, a secret ingredient cauliflower soup topped with red pepper swirl. This one is dairy free and has two surprising fruit ingredients. (Click through to find out what they are!)
Today's recipe is an Indian spiced cauliflower soup. It's based on the Indian dish of aloo gobi, a cauliflower and potato curry. I've made it into a spiced, pureed soup, for maximum cauliflower flavour.
Spiced Cauliflower Soup
serves 4 as a main dish or 6 as an appetizer
adapted from The Flavour Thesaurus
1 onion
2 T olive oil
1 t minced fresh ginger
1 green chili
1/4 t ground turmeric
1/2 t ground coriander
1 t ground cumin
170 g potatoes (about 2 small potatoes)
1/2 head of cauliflower
salt
Finely chop the onion. Heat the olive oil in a large pot and add the onion.
Fry gently until soft, about four minutes.
Deseed and finely chop the chili. Stir in the ginger, chill, turmeric, coriander, and cumin.
Add the potatoes and cauliflower and stir to coat them in the spices.
Add 3 c (750 ml) or cold water. Bring to the boil, then reduce heat to simmer for 20 minutes, until the potatoes and cauliflower are soft.
Puree using an immersion blender or a regular blender. (To use a regular blender, allow to cool a little first and work in batches.)
Add salt to taste.
Do you like soups based on cauliflower?
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