Roasted Cauliflower and White Cheddar Soup

I don't often have "this is amazing" experiences with cauliflower.  But this soup tonight provided that for me.  It is divine.  Roasting the cauliflower first gives the soup an incredible depth of flavour and colour.

Source: http://www.closetcooking.com/2012/02/roasted-cauliflower-and-aged-white.html

Serves 3 adults- anymore and you need to double it.

Ingredients:

1 head of cauliflower
oil
1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced/grated
1 tsp thyme, chopped
3 cups vegetable or chicken broth
1 1/2 cups sharp white cheddar, shredded
1 cup milk or cream (I used whole milk)
salt and pepper to taste
cayenne (optional)

Directions:

Chop up your head of cauliflower and toss with a couple tablespoons of oil and a sprinkle of salt and pepper.  Roast at 400 degrees for 30 minutes, tossing halfway through. 

Saute your onion and garlic over medium-low heat in a big soup pot in a little oil or butter.  Add your thyme and cook for another minute.  Then add your broth and roasted cauliflower (you will need more broth if your head of cauliflower was really big- because your cauliflower was just roasted your broth doesn't need to completely cover them).  Boil, covered, for 20 minutes.  Turn off your heat and blend your soup with an immersion hand bender (or in batches in a regular blender). 

Stir in your shredded cheese and cream.  Add more salt and pepper if needed.  I added 1/3 tsp of cayenne at this point for a tiny little note of heat.  Turn heat back on and heat till desired temperature (don't boil again).

We had our soup with a baguette and garlic butter.  I had some left over cream in my fridge so I whipped it up into some fresh butter.  So delicious.  Just whip your butter with your hand blender till it passes the "whipped cream" stage and you see liquid separate from it.  Drain the liquid and whip salt and a clove of minced garlic into the remaining fat.  Serve along with your bread.  I defrosted a cheddar/jalapeno baguette I had in my freezer that I bought on sale at the store last week.  But fresh bread with this fresh butter and divine soup would have pushed it over the edge!