FARE

Soup City 

Yesterday my ol’pal Andy captured a beautiful image of Calgary in the springtime. It was a soupy day if I’ve ever seen one, both on the roads and in my apartment.

Just as Calgary has a stinky reputation for long winters and sloppy springs, cauliflower has a stinky reputation for being stinky. The key to enjoying both is to find their inherent beauty and highlight it. Also, STOP! drowning cauliflower in water and throwing it on the plate. It’s the equivalent of you soaking in a tub for 2 hours and showing up at a party all wrinkly with no clothes on. If you dress it up a little and do its hair and make-up, that cauliflower will transform into a very attractive party guest. 

Roasting cauliflower is, like with most vegetables, ideal in terms of developing deep and satisfying flavour. The result in this case is a full bodied, filling soup that pretties up cauliflower and helps to make an April snow flurry enchanting.

Roasted Cauliflower Soup & Parsley Pesto

1 medium head cauliflower

4-5 garlic cloves

4 cups vegetable broth

1 1/2 Tbls vegetable oil

3/4 medium yellow onion, diced

1 large potato, peeld and diced small

1 Tbls fresh thyme

1/4 tsp red chilie flakes

1 cup heavy cream

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

Wash and cut cauliflower into medium sized florets. Lay florets out on a lined baking sheet with peeled garlic cloves. Drizzle in olive oil and sprinkle with a few pinches of salt. Roast for 20-25 mins or until cauliflower has begun to turn a golden brown. 

In the meantime, heat stock in a large stock pot. In a separate saucepan, over medium-high heat, saute onion until translucent. Add in fresh thyme, chilie flakes and a pinch or two of salt, continuing to saute until golden brown. Stir in potato pieces and cook over heat, about 5 minutes. 

Transfer potato onion mixture to the heated broth, add in roasted cauliflower and garlic, simmering until the potatoes are tender.

Turn off heat and puree the soup. Add cream, salt, pepper to taste and serve with a good sized dollop of parsley pesto.

Serves 4-5

Parsley Pesto

2 cups italian parsley

1/2 cup toasted sliced almonds

2 garlic cloves

1/2 cup pecorino romano (or parmesan) cheese

1/4 - 1/3 cup olive oil 

A squeeze of lemon juice

salt and pepper to taste

Place parsley, almonds, garlic and cheese in a food processor and pulse to combine. Pour in olive oil as you blend, making sure not to over blend and make it too smooth. Add salt and pepper and blend.

Pesto Recipe from Rebar Modern Food 

Soup Recipe inspired by Rebar Modern Food’s Creamy Broccoli Soup

Photos by Maggie Murphy