Roasted Cauliflower & Leek Soup for Cold February Nights
With chilly February just a few days away, it seemed like a great time to share a delicious recipe with you. This recipe is slightly adapted from Love and Lemons, one of my favorite blogs. I’ve changed it a bit assuming that most of our fans/Wine Club/blog readers are not vegan, but if you want the original vegan recipe, check it out here. This soup pairs beautifully with our new release 2011 Reininger Reserve Chardonnay, and would make an excellent Valentine’s Day dinner with crusty bread, a small leafy salad, and chocolate-covered anything.
ROASTED CAULIFLOWER & LEEK SOUP
INGREDIENTS:
2-2.5 cups chopped cauliflower
2-3 leeks, chopped, white and very light green parts
2 cloves of garlic
good extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling
1/4 cup heavy cream
1.5 teaspoons sea salt
leaves from a few sprigs of thyme
3 cups of water
2 tablespoons more olive oil (to blend into the soup)
1/8 teaspoon smoked paprika (or more to taste)
squeeze of lemon
a few more pinches of salt
red pepper flakes (optional)
METHOD:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spread cauliflower, leeks and garlic on a baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with a few pinches of salt & pepper. Roast for 20-30 minutes, rotating halfway through. Remove when everything is starting to turn golden, but before the leeks are burning (if a few get too charred, it’s ok, just pick them out later).
Add to your blender (a Vitamix ideally), the veggies you just roasted, thyme leaves, 1.5 tsp salt, a squeeze of lemon and half the water (1.5 cups). Blend until pureed. Add olive oil, paprika, and the rest of the water. Blend again. Taste and adjust seasonings.
Pour into a medium saucepan and heat just until it’s warm. Add cream, and if it is too thick, add water (or to be decadent, more cream). Serve with bread on the side.
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