Roasted Cauliflower and Goat Cheese Soup

It's early December. Most of the leaves have fallen from the trees, the days are getting shorter, and the morning brings frost, but no snow to speak of yet. It's been a mild introduction to winter, but it's still a great time for a piping hot bowl of soup.

This recipe has been adapted from a gratin recipe by Bobby Flay. As per usual, I've taken some liberties, like roasting the cauliflower, switching up the cheeses a bit, and oh, making it a soup. I also added some dried garlic chives that I grew over the summer for a little color and flavor.

Roasted Cauliflower and Goat Cheese Soup
 4-6 servings

Ingredients
1 large head cauliflower, cut into florets
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 tbsp. chili powder

3 tbsp. butter
2 tbsp. flour
2 cups milk
1/2 pound sharp cheddar, shredded or cubed (reserve a small handful for garnish)
1 cup shredded parmesean
4 ounces goat cheese, cut into small pieces
Salt and pepper
1 cup garlic chives (reserve some for garnish)



Roasting the Cauliflower
Preheat oven to 425F.
Toss cauliflower with olive oil and chili powder. Place on a cookie sheet. I used an olive oil mister to lightly coat the cookie sheet, but I don't believe it was necessary. Some people use parchment paper as a liner - that's definitely an option if you prefer.

Place in oven for about 25 minutes, or until cauliflower begins to brown.


Preparing the Base
In a skillet, melt the butter. Slowly whisk in the flour, to form a paste. Continue to cook over medium heat for about 3-4 minutes, stirring continuously. Gradually add in milk.  
Switch to a wooden spoon for stirring. Reduce heat to low and add the cheeses and allow to melt.  Add salt and pepper to taste.


Assembling the soup
Place roughly 1/4 to 1/3 of cauliflower in a food processor. Process until you have a slightly chunky paste. I suppose the amount used here depends on how chunky you like your soup. I like my soup relatively chunky, so I blended a small amount of the roasted cauliflower. Feel free to add more to the food processor depending on your personal taste.

Place remainder of roasted cauliflower in a large mixing bowl.  Add green onions, cauliflower paste and cheese mixture. Blend well.  Pour into a baking dish and bake for 20 minutes in a preheated 425 degree oven or until the top is golden brown. Once removed from the oven, this soup will thicken up as it cools - wait as long as you can bear! Garnish with grated cheese and additional garlic chives. 

As you can see, despite my best efforts to give this a nice bubbly brown cheesy top, dishing the soup up kind of eradicated that. Regardless, this soup is still amazing on a cold day!