Sitting at our table on the porch last night, eating this soup was a transcendental experience. Sometimes there is a combination of ingredients that raise the bar for flavor. This is one of those dishes. Anytime you roast vegetables you release great flavor. In this case the vegetable was cauliflower. The humble head of cauliflower can be turned into a delicious soup. The original recipe is a winner on the Food 52 website. The creator of the soup is Bogre, a guy from Connecticut with Hungarian roots; thus the use of smoked paprika in the dish. The cauliflower is first roasted with the smoked paprika and cumin and then pureed with chicken stock. This hearty base is then enhanced with sausages and either mustard greens or kale.
I made some substitutions to the original recipe. A Trader Joe’s has opened in our area, for which I am eternally grateful. I used their pre-washed Tuscan kale and their brand of turkey kielbasa. Also I did not have any smoked paprika so substituted regular paprika. However you tinker with this soup, you will still end up with a winner. I plan to use cauliflower again as a base for creamy soups. It has less calories than potatoes, but still imparts a rich, rib sticking goodness.
CAULIFLOWER, KALE AND SAUSAGE SOUP
Serves 6 to 8
- 2pounds cauliflower florets (from 1 medium head)
- 1/2 to 1 teaspoon ground cumin, or to taste
- 1/2 tablespoon smoked paprika (I used regular paprika)
- Salt and pepper
- 2 tablespoons olive oil (plus extra for roasting)
- 1 Spanish onion, chopped
- 4 large garlic cloves, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 8 cups chicken stock
- 1/2 pound smoked turkey kielbasa, sliced (Wellshire Farms brand is particularly good) – I used Trader Joe’s Smoked Turkey Kielbasa
- 1 bunch mustard greens, shredded – I used Tuscan Kale
- 1/4 cup parsley, finely chopped
- 1/4 cup cilantro, finely chopped
- 1/2 lemon, juiced
- Preheat oven to 450 F. Toss cauliflower florets with cumin, smoked paprika, and liberal amounts of salt, pepper, and olive oil. Spread in a single layer in a roasting pan or baking dish and roast in the oven for 30 minutes.
- Remove florets and set aside. Deglaze the roasting pan with 1 cup of the chicken stock, stirring to scrape up browned bits. Mix in with the remaining stock.
- Sauté the onion in 2 tablespoons of olive oil (In a large stock pot) over medium-medium high heat until tender and translucent and beginning to brown. Add garlic and pepper flakes and sauté until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add cauliflower and stock and bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer about an hour. Remove from heat and purée. I used an immersion blender.
- Return the puréed soup to low heat. Add sausage and cook about 10 minutes. (You can brown the sausage beforehand if you like.) Add the mustard greens and parsley and simmer another 5 to 10 minutes until the greens soften a bit. Remove from heat. Stir in the cilantro and the lemon juice and season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve with a sprinkle of smoked paprika and a drizzle of olive oil.
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I’ve just been thinking about a cauliflower soup… Love this. Always like sausage in soup, it just adds so much flavor.
What a pretty soup and it looks so rich and satisfying. I’ve never used cauliflower in soup, but it sounds like a winner. I must try this. Roasting brings out so much flavor as you say.
Sam
I will have to try your soup Penny. Not only does it look delicious but I’ve been trying to find more recipes using kale. I love that the creamy broth is made with cauliflower too!
Penny, this sounds so good.
That sounds wonderful. I do have the smoked paprika…I am going to try this in the winter!
Your description of the flavors really sold me, Penny. Believe it or not, we had kale for the first time the other evening, sauteed with spinach and garlic. A little bitter but good. I am definitely printing this!
XO,
Jane
The title gave me a ho-hum reaction but after reading the recipe and your comments I’m ready to whip up a batch. It sounds delicious.
We’ve finally got a Trader Joe’s opening here soon. I can’t wait. Really like the idea of roasting the cauliflower with those flavors…the color shows up in the soup and you’ve described the flavors perfectly. I’ve used kale in soups before…love it.
Looks perfect for a cold fall evening, which is the weather we are expecting next week! Hope you saw the video of Cameon and Rachel playing with Alex. It’s been hard keeping that child quiet!
This is just the recipe I’m looking for for this weekend. Although the days are beautiful here the nights are crisp and cold – perfect soup weather. I picked up a head of cauli at a local farm stand yesterday that will be perfect. I’ll try to resist snacking on it before it even gets into the soup pot.
I, too, happen to have smoked paprika and my own kale is till alive and well. This is perfect. I just visited my “local” Trader Joe’s yesterday — 2 hours away. Jealous! Thanks for sharing — and thanks to Bogre.
This soup must be made soon! Your photos are beautiful and the ingredients sound wonderful. We’re getting a Trader Joe’s near us. I’ve never been to one and am always jealous when I hear someone talk about the store. Glad to hear they’re expanding everywhere. The one here will be less than 5 miles from our house. Yipee.
Two of my favorites are in this soup… cumin and smoked paprika. Looks like a good recipe.
This was delicious! My oven is broken so I couldn’t roast the cauliflower, had to boil instead…but it was still amazing! I can only imagine how much better it would be if roasted! Thanks for such a healthy and yummy recipe!