6 ingredients (!!) yet as subtle, delicious, and elegant as a soup can be! The secret is in the rosemary infused olive oil, which is easy to make and elevates this simple soup to ooooo la la!!
Yes, you can use purchased stock but I recommend making your own, so here is my Vegetarian Soup Stock Recipe .
First, saute 4-5 fresh rosemary stalks in a cup of extra virgin olive oil. Be careful to keep the heat low so the herb does not fry. Infuse gently for about 5 minutes. Pour into a bowl and let cool.
Here are the proportions for a perfect soup: Serves about 6 :
4 cups of soup stock (I use 6 cups for a less thick soup)
1 head cauliflower, cut into pieces, approximately 2 1/2 lbs
1 medium yellow onion, diced, about a cup
2 cloves garlic, minced, about 1 tablespoon if using pre-packaged
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
Lemon zest
Olive oil
Add 2 Tablespoons olive oil to soup pan. Sauté onions about 6-8 minutes until soft and translucent. Add garlic being careful not to burn, sauté another minute or so. Add broth, cauliflower and salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to a simmer for 10 minutes until cauliflower is tender.
Remove rosemary stalks from oil.
Add soup and 1/4 cup rosemary oil to blender and process until very smooth.
An immersion blender will work too but I find it doesn't result in the creaminess desired.
When ready to serve, rewarm and serve topped with drizzle of rosemary oil and lemon zest.
The original recipe also suggests toasting bread cubes in the rosemary oil with salt and pepper and serving the croutons on the soup.
Another nice effect is to roast or pan brown some of the cauliflower in the rosemary oil and use it as a soup topping. If you want a heartier soup you can roast the entire head of cauliflower before making the soup, but I think the soup is perfect as is.
A friend shares this about the rosemary infused oil: "I store it in a small jar and keep it in a cupboard where it doesn’t get much light. I use it up within 6 weeks. We drizzle it on soup (like you’re doing), on polenta, on toast before topping with an egg, on mashed potatoes, on roasted vegetables, over hummus, and even over roasted fruit, like apples and purple grapes. Wonderful stuff. 💜"
The original recipe for this soup is captured from behind the NYT Cooking paywall, but I've transcribed here so that we can all access it, but I do acknowledge and thank them. 🙏🏻👍