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This soup can be made just as well with either cauliflower or with broccoli. We’ve been getting a large head of each every Friday for several weeks now, as we’re subscribed to a “box scheme” whereby we get fresh seasonal fruits & vegetables. Well, the UK being what it is, we’re getting lots of root veggies & lots of things like cauliflower & broccoli. Seeing as it’s also been cold, we decided to figure out a nice soup for these.
Essentially, what I’m giving you is an ingredient list, and you can adjust it to your own tastes. Along with that, though, will come a bit of general advice for making this soup, and that’s to use far less water than you think you need, and far more spices. Broccoli & cauliflower are bland, and can take it, particularly if you’re getting large heads! That said, here’s what you do:
1) Throw 5 or 6 large whole cloves of garlic in a cold pan with a spritz of olive oil.
2) Turn on the heat to medium-low.
3) Chop an onion, add it to the pan with the garlic, and cover.
4) Trim florets from the main stalk & set aside.
5) If using cauliflower, feel free to discard the main stalk or chop it.
6) If using broccoli, peel off the outer skin (I do this by just getting my fingers under it and pulling). Chop the remaining stalk, discarding the woody skin.
7) When your onions have softened somewhat, add your broccoli / cauliflower.
8) Add just enough water to cover about half of the contents and cover – too little water is better than too much!
9) Grind up some spices (saffron maybe, but definitely a pinch of sage, a dozen cumin seeds, some white pepper maybe, a teaspoon of yellow mustard seeds, rosemary if you have it) and throw them in.
10) When mixture has softened (about 20 minutes or so), remove it from the heat.
11) Blend with your immersion blender until smooth.
12) Strain (optional – primarily to remove any sage twigs)
13) Add a brick of silken tofu (soft, firm, whatever so long as it’s silken) and blend until smooth again.
14) If doing broccoli, we added a teaspoon of red balsamic vinegar & blended that, too, along with some bouillon & a pinch of salt. Obviously, skip the red vinegar with the cauliflower, as pink soup would be kinda odd.
15) Ladle into bowls & serve, maybe with cheese, maybe with cheese toast.
What we’ve found with this is that 1) you can’t have enough garlic, 2) you can easily have too much water, 3) you don’t want to put it back onto the heat after adding the tofu, as it will tend to separate somewhat. Other than that, this is dead easy to make, and wonderfully soothing on a cold day!
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This post is going up particularly for the No Croutons Required event, and also because Lori asked me for the recipe.
This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
HHmmm…sounds interesting… You just might make a cauliflower or broccoli eater out of me yet. But only if they are pureed and combined with lots and lots of garlic and spices! 😉
I love No Croutons Required. I haven’t seen it before and will definitely be trying some new soups out!
looks interesting……
Love the way you write your recipes – so many options. I have one brother that hates broccoli and the other hates cauliflower. With your recipe, I can satisfy each of their needs. Thanks!
That’s the thing about this soup: it really doesn’t taste like either broccoli or cauliflower, in either incarnation, so it’s good for anybody! Basically, the cauliflower one’s creamy & white, the broccoli’s creamy & green, and they’re both full of garlic & spice.
Anything to get through all these winter vegetables!
OK. After I try this recipe I’ll learn something about adding tofu to soups. Think this would work for a nice tomato basil soup so I wouldn’t have to add heavy cream??
I like the combination of spice you suggest – sage and mustard with a hint of saffron. Never thought of thickening my soup with a bit of silken tofu but now you’ve planted the idea.
I haven’t had broccoli soup in ages, but I love it, this sounds great!
now i’ll need to get an immersion blender! can’t wait to try it!
I often make cauliflower soup in the winter. I love it with some cracked pepper, crispy croutson and some shreds of parmesan cheese over the top. I have never added tofu. I will definitely be trying this next time I make it.
What we’ve found with this is that 1) you can’t have enough garlic, 2) you can easily have too much water, 3) you don’t want to put it back onto the heat after adding the tofu, as it will tend to separate somewhat. Other than that, this is dead easy to make, and wonderfully soothing on a cold day! – this kind of advice is what makes your recipes useful. Thanks!