Roasted Cauliflower Soup with Grilled Cheese Sandwhiches

From this, roasted cauliflower with a honey thyme yoghurt crust...

To this, roasted cauliflower soup with a grilled cheese sandwhich on sourdough bread! 

The cauliflower I bought was absolutely huge, so I knew it would be good for at least two meals. I had a bit of plain Greek yoghurt, and some honey so I roasted it with a yoghurt crust. This keeps the moisture inside the cauliflower and it basically steams and becomes tender on the inside, but forms a nice crust, full of flavour on the outside.

This was used as a vegetable one night; the leftovers became soup. I used the little bits and pieces of cheese to make grilled cheese to serve with the soup. All in all, that head of cauliflower was a great buy!

Start off with the roasted cauliflower...

Remove the leaves from your cauliflower.

Place it in a large pot of cold water. Bring it to a boil and allow it to cook for 5 minutes, before turning the cauliflower over and cooking for another 5 minutes.

 Remove the cauliflower from the water and allow to drain and cool in a colander, while you mix the yoghurt and honey.

Heat the oven to 350F.

Combine:

1/4 cup plain Greek yoghurt
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
1 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Place the head of cauliflower in an ovenproof dish. Coat the entire outside with the yoghurt mixture.

Place in the oven and roast until the centre of the cauliflower is tender when pierced with a fork or skewer. This took about 45 minutes.

To serve, cut wedges out of the head of cauliflower.






The leftover cauliflower can be stored, well wrapped, in the refrigerator for 2 - 3 days. Then it's time to make the soup...making the soup allowed me to use the open chicken stock as well as some Parmesan rinds that were in the fridge.

Dice a small onion, and cook in olive oil until softened.

 Add:

1 large russet potato, peeled and diced
salt and pepper

Add:

3 cups chicken stock

Bring to a boil.

Add the leftover roasted cauliflower. I had half the head of cauliflower, 4 - 5 cups.

Add more chicken stock or water, so that the vegetables are completely covered.

Bring to a boil and then simmer until the potatoes are tender.

Remove from the heat and puree, using a hand blender, food processor or blender.

Strain to remove any lumps, leaving you with a silky smooth soup.

Return to the pot and thin to the desired consistency by adding milk.

Heat gently while making the grilled cheese sandwhiches; taste and adjust seasoning before serving.

I had a small piece of Brie, some orange cheddar and some Swiss cheese.

I added some white cheddar and roasted garlic Havarti.

Grate the cheeses (slice the Brie) and mix them so you have a blend.

Butter the outside of the sourdough bread, and mound the grated cheese and a couple of slices of brie onto one side of each sandwhich.

Cook in a non stick pan until crispy on the outside and the cheese is melty and gooey on the inside.






Cut the grilled cheese in half and serve alongside a bowl of the cauliflower soup. The sandwhich is great for dipping into the soup!

• The soup can be made with raw cauliflower, cut into florets and cooked with the potatoes until tender. The roasted cauliflower adds the extra flavour from the yoghurt crust and the roasting.
• Broccoli can also be used, with the cauliflower, or instead of the cauliflower.
• Blue cheese is a great pairing for cauliflower; consider using it in the grilled cheese, or adding it to the soup as a garnish.
• I used part chicken stock and part water. You can use whichever you have; milk or whipping cream can also be used for the cooking and the thinning out. Whipping cream will, of course, give a much richer soup.
• The sandwhiches can be dressed up by adding ham or cooked bacon; dried cranberries or cranberry relish; mustard; pesto; tomatoes or roasted garlic mayonnaise.
• The yoghurt can be mixed with anything you like. Try some of these...tandoori spices, curry powder, fresh herbs, lemon zest; fresh or roasted garlic.
• The roasted cauliflower can also be diced up and served cold as a salad. Add toasted nuts, chopped fresh herbs and a light olive oil and citrus juice dressing. Dried fruit is also a great addition, as is crumbled blue cheese.
• Leftover roasted cauliflower can be diced up and added to pasta or stir fry. It can also be cooked with potatoes and mashed. 
• The soup can be made ahead and frozen.