Roasted Cauliflower Soup with Purple Cauliflower, Bread Crumbs, Almonds and Raisins

Oh, Cauliflower. This was not our first dance. But first dances are overrated. The real magic is in getting to know each other, learning to move together, trusting instincts so that just a light tap on the back or squeeze of the hand can signal the next step.

In this soup, Cauliflower was the Fred to my Ginger, the N to my *Sync. My, she was yar.

If you get the idea I might be personifying Cauliflower a lot in this post, you might be right. So far, that choice of writing convention has been pretty disgusting, so I won't fault you for jumping ship now. Unless you wanna hear about this soup, which has received such ringing endorsements as "It looks like Easter!" (Erin is never wrong.)

This soup started as a text message from Logan. He had located some purple cauliflower, and did I want some? Perhaps to use as a swirl of purple in a regular cauliflower soup? This is what I assume everyone means by "sexting." 

Cauliflower has been everywhere recently. Just two weeks ago my brunch compatriots and I had a full discussion about cauliflower being the new Brussels sprouts. The restaurant where we ate closed the next day, assumedly due to hearing our conversation and realizing they weren't nearly cauliflowercentric enough.

There were even buffalo cauliflower bites at the Super Bowl party I went to, and that recipe was from Buzzfeed. That's about as of-the-moment as a vegetable can get.

So, it would appear that just one month after Food & Wine gave the Brussels sprout the number 10 spot in reader's favorite ingredients, cauliflower is seriously nipping at its heels. Can't you just picture it? A tiny little Brussels sprout with cute green feet running away from a big head of cauliflower chomping big wolfy fangs? Adorable! And then the mama Brussels sprout stalk comes out of nowhere, takes a big leap and impales the cauliflower right through the curd. (Have you jumped ship yet, dear reader?)

As I was trying to determine what to do with my lovely purple friend, my thoughts drifted back to one of the best cauliflower dishes I've made. Not a soup, but a side dish that Michael Anthony of Gramercy Tavern shared with the New York Times back in 2009. It was a dish he created to prove to his now-wife that she could enjoy cauliflower. How conceptually tempting is that? So romantic. Why shouldn't I force-feed vegetables to the ones I love, too?

I prepped the soup at home and took it over to Katie's apartment to eat with girlfriends in the middle of an epic-for-Cincinnati snow and ice storm. Because I wasn't really following a recipe, I actually followed Every Cooking Competition Ever's advice and tasted all along the way this time. This led me to leave out an ingredient I originally thought I'd need: Parmesan. The cheese would have just distracted, with the almonds and the caramelization on the roasted cauliflower already there to lend some nuttiness, and the capers adding plenty of salt.

Speaking of cooking competition shows, we've been watching slash LOVING The Taste. Maybe too much, as evidenced below.

Are you there, Ludo? It's me, Corrie.

But, honestly, composing one "perfect bite" was a great way to make sure this soup wasn't going to gross out my friends. Part thoughtful, part self-indulgent (You're right; I totally didn't have to take a picture).

For the purple cauliflower swirl, I used a little frosting squeeze bottle because it's all I had. I should really buy a regular squeeze bottle and practice with it. Food artiste I am not.

Have I really written this much and not said anything about how the soup was? Apologies! It was so good!

The cauliflower base is creamy, creamy creamy, with just the right level of thickness. No dairy at all in just the base, so if you're looking for a luscious vegan soup, this is it, full stop. You could use olive oil instead of butter in the garnish, but, as butter is my spirit animal, I can't wholeheartedly endorse that. 

You could also make it without the purple cauliflower; it's more just fun and pretty than anything else. If you do it sans purps, reserve a few tiny bits of regular cauliflower to add to the topping for texture. You know, if you want to be all boring about it.

Besides the lavender swirl, one thing that makes this soup so whimsical is the breadth of textures in the garnish. The raisins might just be my favorite part. They're an unexpected burst of plump sweetness, little jewels amongst all that savoriness. 

I've got to stop writing now; I'm getting sad it's all gone.

Roasted Cauliflower Soup with Purple Cauliflower, Bread Crumbs, Almonds and Raisins
Adapted from this Michael Anthony side dish recipe
Enough for five first course servings

GET THIS STUFF

For soup:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 head of cauliflower, trimmed of leaves and sliced 1" thick
2 cloves garlic
1 large leek, light green and white parts only, sliced
1 large shallot, diced
4 cups vegetable broth


For purple cauliflower puree:
1/4 head of purple cauliflower, leaves removed, broken up a bit
1/4 cup of vegetable broth
1 tablespoon Greek yogurt

For the garnish:
1/2 cup of small, torn-up pieces of sourdough bread
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon champagne vinegar
3 tablespoons golden raisins
1/3 cup very small cauliflower florets (or whatever they're called--you get the picture)
3 tablespoons whole raw almonds
dash of olive oil
1 teaspoon capers, drained, rinsed and chopped
1 tablespoon chopped fresh Italian parsley
1 teaspoon chopped fresh tarragon

DO THIS WITH IT

Heat oven to 350 F. Put 1 tablespoon olive oil in an oven proof skillet over medium heat. Place slices of cauliflower in the skillet, and get a little browning going on both sides. 

Add the garlic cloves (unpeeled) to the skillet and place in the oven for about 15 minutes.

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in soup pot over medium-low heat. Add leeks and shallot, and cook slowly for about 20 minutes. 

In a separate pot, steam the 1/4 head of purple cauliflower until tender, then add to a blender with 1/4 cup vegetable broth and 1 tablespoon Greek yogurt. Puree until very smooth, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside.

In a skillet over medium heat, melt 1 tablespoon of butter and add pieces of bread. Saute for about 3 minutes, then transfer to a plate and set aside. 

In same skillet, add a dash of olive oil and raw almonds. Saute for about 3 minutes or until a shiny golden brown, then transfer to a plate and set aside. 

Again in the same skillet, add golden raisins and small bits of cauliflower with 1 tablespoon water and 1 tablespoon champagne vinegar. Cook until soft and plumped, and remove from heat.

Remove cauliflower and garlic from oven. Add cauliflower to the soup pot, and peel the garlic and add to the pot. Add 4 cups of vegetable broth and simmer for 10 minutes or so. 

Using an immersion blender, blend soup until very smooth, then blend some more. I went for about five minutes on high to make sure it was extra silky. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

To serve, divide soup among five bowls. Spoon or pipe some of the purple puree on top. Add bread crumbs and almonds back to the skillet with the cauliflower and raisins in it, along with capers, parsley and tarragon. Reheat/re-crisp on medium-high heat for 60 seconds or so, then divide topping among bowls and serve.