Roast Cauliflower Soup & Kale Pesto

It’s soup weather. And I’m quite fussy about soups. There is no room, in my mind, for a bland bowl of sameness just warmed and slopped into a dish. A good soup must have layers: a splash of sour, a crunch of salt, a swirl of cold against the hot foundation, so that every mouthful is alive with interest. In this setting, the soup is really just a base colour onto which you paint flavours and textures that, when combined, create something greater than their individual parts. This is why you will always find my soups topped with a swirl of crème fraîche or some sort of spoonable sauce, and a scattering of crunch like nuts or fried breadcrumbs. As here. This soup is only a little bit about the cauliflower. Mostly it’s about the kale and walnut pesto on top and the wonderful contrast it offers to the soup, both in colour and umami richness. Against the creamy, sweet warmth of the cauliflower the savoury, salty oomph of kale and walnut. A soup to aid hibernation.

---

Print

With ImageWithout Image

Roast cauliflower soup with kale and walnut pesto

Yield: 2-3

Prep time: 30 MinCook time: 30 MinTotal time: 1 Hour

A warming vegetarian soup recipe for autumn and winter. Creamy roast cauliflower soup topped with kale and walnut pesto, cauliflower leaves and walnuts. Keep leftover pesto (a great use for a kale glut) in small portions in the freezer for emergency soup-swirling needs.

Ingredients

For the pesto:

• 100g kale
• 1 clove of garlic, crushed
• 30g parmesan, grated (or vegetarian alternative)
• 100g walnuts
• Approx. 100ml extra virgin olive oil

For the soup:

• 1 medium cauliflower (approx. 650g)
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 3 small shallots
• 1 tbsp butter
• 2 bay leaves
• 250ml milk
• 200ml vegetable stock, or water
• 100ml double cream
• Handful walnuts, roughly chopped

Instructions

1. For the pesto, remove the stalks from the kale and roughly chop the leaves. Put the kale, garlic, parmesan, walnuts and a slug of extra virgin olive oil in a food processor with a pinch of salt. Whizz until smooth then add more oil and more salt until you have a perfectly seasoned, spoonable sauce.
2. Pre-heat the oven to 195C (fan).
3. Break the cauliflower into florets (save the smaller leaves), toss in the extra virgin olive oil and season with salt. Arrange in a single layer on a tray and roast for 30 minutes, turning half way, until cooked through and a little charred at the edges. A few minutes before the cauliflower is done, add the leaves so they can wilt and char too.
4. Meanwhile, slice the shallot and melt the butter in a large saucepan. Add the shallots and sweat for 8-10 minutes until soft.
5. Add the bay leaves, milk, stock, roasted cauliflower florets (not the leaves) and a pinch of salt and bring to a gentle bubble for a few minutes.
6. Once the cauliflower is very soft, remove the pan from the heat, extract the bay leaves, and whizz with a stick blender until smooth. Stir in the cream and adjust the seasoning.
7. To serve, spoon the soup into bowls. Swirl in a spoonful of pesto, then top with a few chopped walnuts and a couple of the cauliflower leaves.

Created using The Recipes Generator