Creamless Cauliflower Leek Soup

Submitted by Katzen

"This is a really rich and great tasting soup that does not contain cream. If you want to add a cup of cream to it to up the decadence factor, you can. It's easy to make with an immersion blender."

 

• Ready In: 1hr 15mins
• Ingredients: 11
• Yields: 10 cups
• Serves: 10

ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 3 leeks, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 1 large head cauliflower, chopped
• 3 -6 garlic cloves, minced
• 1⁄2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 8 cups vegetable broth (I like homemade best)
• 1⁄4 cup oatmeal (optional)
• salt, to taste
• fresh ground black pepper, to taste
• 1⁄2 lemon, juice of (optional)

directions

1. 1. Heat the olive oil and butter in a large pot over medium heat, and saute the leeks, cauliflower, garlic, and thyme for about 10 minutes. Stir in the vegetable broth, and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer 45 minutes.
2. 2. Remove the soup from heat. Blend the soup with an immersion blender or hand mixer. If the soup is too thin, add oatmeal to thicken. Season with salt and pepper, and lemon juice, if using.

Reviews

[SarasotaCook]

Excellent recipe. Easy, very flavorful, loved the leeks in them. Made it exactly to directions with one exception, I used fresh thyme. I didn't need to add the oatmeal because I had a huge head of cauliflower and it was very creamy. I did however add 1/2 of a baked potato leftover in the freezer. I always freeze them when left to add to soups or stews - so I threw it in, but it didn't change the flavor. I even used the fresh lemon which was a very nice touch and garnished with scallions and some of the lemon zest from the lemon I used. Just a sprinkle for a little flavor along with a sprig of fresh thyme. Loved it. Perfect soup. Thx, Kim

 

[Annacia]

While mine came out a light leekie green it somehow seemed perfect for Spring and it was delicious. No oatmeal was needed as it had a perfect thick consistency. I can easily see this being served chilled in hot weather and much enjoyed. I will confess to omitting the butter, oil, and sauteing. I simply cooked everything together in the veggie broth and then pureed. It was light as a feather and delicious. :D

 

[Deantini]

Very hearty, healthy and warming soup - just perfect on a cold Feb evening! It gets 5 stars for that - but I did feel that the flavour missed a certain something to up it to 5. UPDATE I added lemon juice to my left overs and that made all the difference for me.

 

[UmmBinat]

This soup is really good. DH, DD (toddler), and I enjoyed it. DD kept asking for more. I used an unrefined extra virgin olive oil, the lesser amount of garlic, changed the thyme to marjoram out of dislike for thyme, I used recipe#328649 instead of the vegetable broth as had it on hand, I did not add the optional oatmeal, I used sea salt & freshly ground black pepper. I didn't feel the optional lemon juice would be great with it so I served ours with a little freshly ground black pepper on top as garnish. I will definitely make this again. Made for Veggie Swap 30 ~ January 2011.

 

[Meredith C-ville]

Now I understand how people use cauliflower as a sub for potato! Good recipe. I held out the leeks and cooked them separately after cooking the other stuff and once it was in the blender, so that my leeks would stay as leeks. I probably added only half the amount of broth because I just like thicker soup. I was all set to add the oatmeal (intriguing idea) and had ground it up in preparation, but my soup was thick enough already so I will save that for another use. I also added some nutmeg at the end. I had planned to add the lemon, but was happy with my taste test and so decided to leave well enough alone. I will definitely be doing this or a variation again.