This recipe comes from Food52 “Genius Recipes” and to quote them, “This soup might seem plain, but trust us. Paul Bertolli, who was at the helm of Chez Panisse and Olivets for over 20 years, knows exactly how to make a vegetable become the best it can be. This recipe comes from Cooking By Hand, Bertolli’s IACP award-winning book of recipes and essays, and makes for a soup that’s delicate, sweet, and smooth as a flannel scarf. Don’t you just love that description?
Yes, it is really true! It’s healthy and delicious without any cream or cheese; the liquid is water! I kicked it up a little by adding slivers of scallions (green part) and crispy bacon, crumbled. I wanted a little more flavor and texture and to give the soup some color.
Such a difference in “light” – I miss the natural sunlight! The picture below represents the color of the soup much better.
Paul Bertolli's Cauliflower Soup
I adapted his recipe by adding bacon and scallion slivers and more detail to the instructions.
- 3 tbsp. quality EVOO
- 1 medium onion (6 oz.) sliced thin – yes I did weigh the onions and the cauliflower
- 1 head (1-1/2 lbs.) broken into florets – I did use part of another head to get 1-1/2 lbs.
- salt to taste (I always use Kosher)
- 5-1/2 cups water (yes, no cream or cheese)
- EVOO to garnish (optional)
- freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Heat the oil in a heavy-bottomed pan. Add the onions and stir until they are coated with oil. Cover tightly and sweat the onions (see Note 1) in the oil over low to medium low heat but do not let the onions brown. You do not want to caramelize them. Do this for about 10-15 minutes. After 5 minutes, stir, cover and sweat another 5 minutes. Follow this procedure until the onions are tender; adjust the temperature as needed.
Add the cauliflower florets, salt to taste and 1/2 cup water. Raise the heat slightly, cover the pot and cook the cauliflower for 20 minutes, or until tender. Next, add another 4-1/2 cups hot water, bring to a simmer and cook an additional 20 minutes, uncovered.
Puree the soup in 2-3 batches in a blender until very smooth and creamy. I placed a kitchen towel on top of the lid to make sure the hot soup does not touch my hands. Put the pureed soup in a clean saucepan and let the soup stand for 20 minutes as it will thicken slightly.
Thin the soup with 1/2 cup hot water. Serve hot drizzled with a little EVOO and freshly ground black pepper. Or for some extra flavor garnish with sliced scallion greens and crispy bacon, crumbled.
Note 1: Sweating is the process of releasing flavors with moisture and low temperatures. I use this process to make white sauces and also a recipe using rice – no color is added. Some people sweat their onions with the lid off – just be sure you don’t caramelize them.
Recipe by cookingwithauntjuju.com
The ingredients and yes I did weigh the cauliflower and onions…
I’ve pinned the recipe and can’t wait to give it a try.
Thanks Karen – it is surprisingly good! I did like the addition of the bacon and scallions 🙂
Love such soups, and the description “smooth as a flannel scarf” indeed seems perfect for it.
I also prefer using water in my vegetables soup, as it allows the flavor of the vegetable to shine. But I love your smart addition of color and flavor with the scallions and bacon. 🙂
Thanks Ronit – the texture is very creamy considering there is no cream – just water. A nice flavor on its own but I like my additional garnishes 🙂
i love cauli soup but i usually make it with cream and butter etc so it is rich and decadent. does the water give it enough flavour? cheers sherry
I love cauliflower anything Sherry! Of course it would be richer and for some people better to add the cream/butter but this is a healthy soup with just a 1/2 piece of bacon for some fat 🙂 I felt the soup needed a little more flavor than just the oil and water…
I am just surprised there no broth at least. Interesting. But it looks wonderful, and I know he knew what he was doing!
Yes, vegetable or chicken broth would have added more flavor. Instead of changing his recipe I just added a few garnishes – bacon and scallions which I enjoyed a lot…
Cauliflower is my family’s favorite vegetable and this recipe is all about the cauliflower with none of the bad stuff normally in cauliflower soup- can’t get more heart healthy than this!
Another blogger looked at this recipe and I knew you would like it too. Give it a try and kick it up with some scallion slivers and??? – maybe serve the bacon on the side 🙂