I haven’t posted a blog in forever, I know, but today I had a success with a simple soup recipe, and since I don’t usually make soups, I was proud of myself, and wanted to share.

The business started recently when I took myself to happy hour at Casbah, and was a little hungry after work.  I ordered a new seasonal menu item, “Cauliflower Puree”, and it was s delicious creamy soup.  I LOVE cream soups, and basically licked the bowl out.

Then, I decided to invite Friend Jay over for dinner.  I was putting together a menu, and decided I’d try to recreate Casbah’s delicious soup.  It didn’t turn out exactly like Casbah’s, but it was very good, and easy, and so.  You’ll need:

1 head of cauliflower

1 bulb of garlic

1 box of veggie broth, or water, or some combination thereof, about 4 cups of liquid

About 1/3 to 1/2 cup of heavy cream

A goodly amount of olive oil

Salt and pepper

2-3 strips of bacon

A little bit of bleu cheese

Preheat your oven to 450.  Chop the cauliflower roughly, douse it in olive oil, and spread it over a large cookie sheet.  Cut the top off a whole bulb of garlic, douse that in olive oil, and wrap it up tightly in foil.  Put the sheet and the garlic bundle into the oven; turn the cauliflower once or twice.  It will be done in about 35 minutes — the garlic will take another 15 minutes or so.

Add the roasted cauliflower and garlic to a pot of warming broth and/or water, enough to barely cover the cauliflower.  The garlic cloves should be soft, and squeeze right out of the bulb; discard the husk.  I have an immersion blender, which works perfectly for such a job, but if you don’t, transfer the hot liquid and vegetables carefully to a food processor, and blend until everything’s very smooth.  Put the soup back in the pot if you’re not using an immersion blender, and add 1/3 – 1/2 cup of heavy cream.  Stir thoroughly.  Add salt and pepper to taste — don’t be afraid to go hard on the pepper.

Meanwhile, fry up your bacon strips, and slice them thinly.  Soup goes in the bowl, bacon goes in the center of soup, bleu cheese crumbles get sprinkled around the bacon — let them melt into the soup.  Yum.

Roasted Cauliflower and Garlic Soup with Bacon and Bleu Cheese Garnish