Roasted Cauliflower & Smoked Gouda Soup

It's cauliflower season!     

     Trust me, I know cauliflower is not glamorous, sexy, or exciting. It is plain old white and sort of mellow in flavor and even people who really like cauliflower never really LOVE cauliflower.

     But even a plain Jane like cauliflower can put on a little black dress and get noticed once in awhile and if you don't peg yourself in the the even like cauliflower category, try this out you may truly be surprised.

     So what transforms cauliflower? In short, a little heat- roasting to be more specific. It gives it color, makes it sweeter, yet more earthy. Just like plain old white sugar is transformed with heat into magical caramel full of color and complexity so too does heat transform this vegetable in a way that you can't really imagine until you try it. So try it, you may just love cauliflower after all . . .

 Ingredients:
2 heads of cauliflower, washed and chopped into florets
3 C beef stock (or vegetable if making vegetarian)
2 C milk, cream, or half and half (I use whole milk)
4 oz smoked Gouda, grated
1 medium white onion, diced
3-4 sprigs fresh thyme
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 t. nutmeg
ground black pepper
salt
olive oil

Directions: preheat your oven to 425F. Drizzle a little olive oil on a large (approx 11x17 or larger) cookie sheet and add cauliflower and garlic seasoning lightly with salt and pepper and toss lightly to coat. Spread out cauliflower evenly on the sheet and place in the oven for 12 min. Remove from oven and toss again checking in 10-12 min to see that cauliflower is generally golden and not getting too brown.

In a stock pot cook the onion in a little olive oil until the onion turns clear and starts to caramelize. Add the stock and leaves from the thyme sprigs. Bring to a low boil, then add the roasted cauliflower and turn off the heat. Using an immersion blender blend in the pot until fairly smooth or transfer in batches to a blender until all is well blended. Add the cheese and nutmeg and stir until the cheese has melted. Add the milk and stir, blend more until the consistency is to your liking. Serve with croutons or crackers and garnish with additional fresh ground pepper, thyme, and/or nutmeg. Enjoy!