6/23/09

Roasted Red Pepper & Cauliflower Soup

roasted red pepper & cauliflower soupThere was a lot of cooking this weekend in my little kitchen. Which also meant doing the dishes multiple times. But, I'm happy to report, that all the cooking was definitely worth it!

Just wait till you see my Daring Bakers challenge (June 27th is the big reveal day)!!!

But now on to this Roasted Red Pepper & Cauliflower Soup. I came up with this recipe because 1) red peppers were on sale for 50 cents each!!!! (unheard of!) and 2) I had a head of cauliflower left from testing one of Robyn Webb's recipes.

And although it's summer, I thought a pureed soup would do me some good. If you don't like cauliflower, feel free to substitute plain white potatoes or celery root or maybe even some butternut squash.

To add a bit extra flavor to the soup, I decided to add a whole head of roasted garlic. Be ready for your house to smell amazing while and after you prepare this recipe!


Ingredients
olive oil
4 red peppers, quartered, seeds removed and cut into big chunks
1 head of garlic, top cut off
salt & pepper
1 head cauliflower, cut into florettes
1 cup milk
1/2-1 cup cooking liquid from cauliflower
parsley, minced for garnish

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil.
2. Take a head of garlic, cut off the top and drizzle with olive oil. Wrap in aluminum foil and place on the cookie sheet.

how to roast garlic 3. Drizzle red peppers with olive oil, season with salt and pepper and scatter in one layer on the aluminum foil covered cookie sheet. Alternatively, you can roast whole peppers on a gas flame. (Pictures below are of peppers before and after the roasting process).

4. Roast the peppers and the garlic for 30 minutes.

roasted red peppersroasted red peppers

5. Meanwhile, cook cauliflower in salted water for about 20 minutes, or until cauliflower is completely tender. Drain the cauliflower, retaining about 1 cup of liquid.

6. In a food processor puree red peppers, cauliflower, 1 cup of milk and the squeezed out insides of the roasted garlic. If necessary, add 1/2 to 1 cup of retained cooking water (depending on how thick you want the soup to be). Season with salt and pepper.

7. Serve the soup in a bowl garnished with some chopped roasted red pepper and minced parsley. Note: this is a great soup to have for leftovers, as I found out. The recipe makes approximately 5 cups.

roasted red pepper & cauliflower souproasted red pepper & cauliflower soup

14 comments:

  1. that's a very pretty soup

    ReplyDelete
  2. That is one of the luscious-est things I have ever beheld.

    I am going to need to make some IMMEDIATELY.

    Also, where in the DC area did you find red peppers that cheap?!?!?!?!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I think I eat more soup in the summer than I do in the fall and winter, probably because I home to make it. This looks delicious Olga!

    ReplyDelete
  4. This looks amazing...like some of the great soups I had in Budapest!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Gorgeous!!
    Seems so easy to prepare seeing that there's no simmering required.

    And I think a bit of chopped red onion would make for a good garnish too, no?

    ReplyDelete
  6. AnonymousJune 23, 2009

    Great colours! The roasted red peppers must give it a really nice deep flavour.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Roasted tomato and roasted pepper are the two best red soups out there. Yum!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Gorgeous! Like the creator of course ....

    ReplyDelete
  9. This looks like an amazing soup. I've never tried cauliflower in soups before..

    ReplyDelete
  10. OMG..you totally reminded me to start my DB post!!! I would have forgotten!
    I love your soup. I can eat a nice bowl of soup in the 100 degree heat!

    ReplyDelete
  11. This looks absolutely DELICIOUS!!! And I can almost taste the smoky aftertaste after a full spoon of soup. It's a brilliant idea!

    Thanks for sharing this!! I LOVE soup!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Love the color, and this sounds like a delicious combination of veggies!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Looks gorgeous and sounds delicious! Must be really flavourful with all the roasted peppers!

    ReplyDelete
  14. I just made this for some friends and some of my friend's friends and it was a huge success! Thank you so much for the recipe.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for stopping by Mango & Tomato. I love reading your comments and will try my best to respond to any specific questions you might have. Come back soon!