Creamy Roasted Cauliflower Chestnut Soup is a comforting, nutritious soup.
I was at Whole Foods the other day picking up some fresh ingredients to make a few more pureed soups for a friend. As I passed the freshly prepared food section, I checked out the soups of the day. Two soups that caught my eye were the Carrot Fennel Soup and the Cauliflower Chestnut Soup.
I’d never tried these combinations in soup before although I’ve made a few Creamless Cream of Carrot Soups and a Creamless Cream of Cauliflower Soup before. One of the reasons I love soups is that you can easily experiment with different combinations of flavors, whether by combining vegetables or adding herbs and spices.
When I got home, I searched for a Carrot Fennel Soup recipe and came across this lovely soup on Sweet Amandine.
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| I love the combination of carrots and fennel in Sweet Amandine’s recipe. |
I decided to make Sweet Amandine’s Carrot Fennel Soup and a Cauliflower Chestnut Soup, similar to the one I found at Whole Foods. As I thought about how to prepare the Cauliflower Chestnut Soup, I decided to roast the cauliflower first to add another layer of flavor to this soup. I was really pleased with the results — a velvety smooth, rich tasting, full flavored soup, a bowl of pure comfort. Both soups are so good, I could eat them hot or cold.
I will be adding both this Carrot Fennel Soup and Roasted Cauliflower Chestnut Soup to my Collection of Pureed Soups.
Creamy Roasted Cauliflower Chestnut Soup
Creamy Roasted Cauliflower Chestnut Soup
Ingredients
- 1 head cauliflower cut into florets
- 4 tablespoons olive oil divided
- 1 onion chopped
- 1 leek cleaned well, chopped
- 2 potatoes peeled, cut up
- 1/4 teaspoon turmeric
- 3 sprigs thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- 8 cups vegetable or chicken broth
- 1 cup cooked chestnuts
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Toss cauliflower with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Place on parchment paper lined baking sheet. Roast cauliflower for about 20 minutes until tender and lightly browned.
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Meanwhile, heat remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil in large soup pot. Add onion and leek and saute until translucent, about 2-3 minutes. Add potatoes, turmeric, thyme, bay <g class="gr_ gr_243 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_run_anim Punctuation only-ins replaceWithoutSep" id="243" data-gr-id="243">leaf</g> and broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and cook, covered, for 15 minutes.
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Add chestnuts and roasted cauliflower and continue to cook 15-20 minutes until potatoes are tender. Carefully puree soup in a blender. Season with salt and pepper.
Anti-Cancer Ingredients: Carrots, Fennel, Cauliflower, Onion, Leek, Turmeric
Creamy Roasted Cauliflower Chestnut Soup Recipe and Culinary Exploration Workshop
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I don't care that the weather has been creeping into the 90s here in Houston… I still want that soup. I could eat soup any time of year. You did a great job with recreating their soup selections. Yummy!
This is my kind of soup–my husband can't get enough of smooth, healthy soups like this, too. No cream is a good thing! I bet this smelled so good with the addition of the turmeric!
Thanks Rochelle, I love soups and making them for others. They are pure comfort food.
Hi Jean, I hope you and your husband enjoy this creamless creamy soup!
What beautiful soups! I would love to try the cauliflower chestnut soup but I'm not a fan of fennel so I'd pass on the other one.
I'm sure they're yummy both warm or chilled. 🙂
Thanks Sheila, I tried these cold and warm and loved them both ways!
Both these soups look fabulous! I love pureed soups and will have to bookmark these for future reference (I know my sons would love this, too). I like the fact you can have them hot or cold.
Love this soup recipe…and the new look is great too!
Thanks Marly, this soup is really good, and I'm glad you like my new look!
oh wow, this soup looks divine!!! 😀 love the addition of chestnuts!
I love these recipes – can’t wait to try. But why is the cauliflower green?
Hi Liz – the soup has turmeric, so there is some color to the soup from roasting the cauliflower and the addition of turmeric. I made this batch a while ago, so not sure if it was just the lighting when I took the photo. I just made this soup (numerous times) the last few weeks and it is actually not greenish, it’s more light tan/yellow.
G’day! Love the combination of cauliflower and chestnut, true!
I might have to put this recipe on my list to do! 🙂
Cheers! Joanne
http://www.facebook.com/whatsonthelist
Joanne – I just did a demo of this soup at the CIA Greystone and it was well received – very rich and creamy tasting without any dairy.
This soup sounds wonderful. Can you give some more information about the chestnuts? I have never worked with chestnuts before and not sure what “cooked” means.
Roasted chestnuts or cooked chestnuts can be found at some supermarkets now. I buy mine from Costco’s, but Trader Joe’s also carries them, and I’ve seen them at some supermarkets. They come in either a jar or a pouch. If you can find roasted chestnuts, they have more flavor; otherwise, cooked chestnuts (I think these are simply boiled) can be used (you could roast them for a bit in the oven to sweeten them up a bit).