cheezy roasted cauliflower soup

this soup is brought to you by some inspiration i came across yesterday, the first flurries of the season up here {gah!} and the massive head of cauliflower from my csa this week.

after spying some creamy, puréed soups yesterday i knew that was the route i wanted to go.  i opted to roast the cauliflower first to bring out some of it's sweetness but you could always skip that step and just cook it with the other ingredients.  although boiling cauliflower tends to make your kitchen smell a bit... gassy.  ahem.

 
cheezy roasted cauliflower soup
makes 4-6 servings
1/2 head cauliflower
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp coarse sea salt
2 cups vegetable broth
2 cups water
1 clove garlic
1 shallot
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
sea salt & fresh pepper to taste

wash the cauliflower and cut into large florets.  toss with olive oil and spread it out on a cookie sheet or in a roasting pan.  sprinkle with salt and roast in a preheated oven at 375f for 35-40 minutes, stirring once or twice during cooking time.  remove the cauliflower from the oven and transfer to a soup pot along with the broth, water, garlic & shallot and bring to a boil.  cover, reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.  using an immersion blender purée the soup {or carefully blend in batches}.  whisk in the nutritional yeast and simmer another few minutes.

then pour yourself a big ol' bowl of silky, belly-warming deliciousness.

and don't be shy with the nooch - i sprinkled on another heaping tablespoon of it before digging in.