This Cheesy Cauliflower Soup is swirled with asparagus pesto and topped with grated cheese. Helloooo delicious!
My soup obsession runneth over.
Part of me is convinced that it’s the cold weather beckoning me to make pot after pot of hot steamy comfort food but, honestly, I’m 99% certain that it has everything to do with my extreme winter laziness. If I make a giant batch of soup on the weekend then for the next four days or so, all I have to do is reheat a bowl and pour it into my face.
It’s too easy.
And let’s not get started on the arsenal building in my freezer right now. Soup is everywhere in this kitchen. In the fridge, the freezer, and my belly.
Just not in the pantry.
I vowed that this year any and all soups that enter the vicinity of my face will be homemade.
No salty, processed soups here!
The amount of love I have for this hot, sexy, steamy bowl of soup is unreal. We make it all Fall and Winter long!
This soup is officially now my favorite way to eat cauliflower on the planet.
The swirl of pesto gives the cauliflower base a foodie flair, and delivers a garlicky punch of flavor that compliments without overpowering. So stir in some pesto, a pinch or two of of peppery parm or romano cheese, and a sprinkle of parsley and red pepper flakes and prepare to swoon with every bite.
Planning for leftovers?
This cheesy cauliflower soup reheats like. a. champ.
Cheesy Cauliflower Soup with Asparagus Pesto
Ingredients
- 1 head of cauliflower
- 1 white/yellow onion (chopped to yield 1 cup)
- 1 large russet potato, peeled and diced (optional but delicious)
- 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1.5-2 cups vegetable stock
- 1.5 cups evaporated milk, heavy cream, or half + half
- 1/4-1/2 cup asparagus pesto (see below for recipe)
- 1 TBSP your favorite healthy oil
- ½ TBSP parsley
- 1/4-1/2 tsp salt
- 2 cranks of freshly ground black pepper
- 2 TBSP freshly grated parmigiano reggiano or peccorino romano cheese
ASPARAGUS PESTO
- 18 spears of asparagus
- ½ cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
- ¼ cup pine nuts or walnuts
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1/4-1/2 tsp of salt
- ¼ tsp dried basil
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- First whip up your pesto. Lightly blanch the asparagus [directions] and chill with icy cold water or a dip in a ice bath. Add asparagus along with olive oil, pine nuts, garlic, parm, salt, pepper, basil, and a pinch of red pepper flakes and pulse gently. Scrape the runaway bits off the side and pulse again until incorporated. Viola! Pesto!
- Next grab your cauliflower and start the soup!
- Clean, trim, and separate your cauliflower into large florets. Blanch diced potato and cauliflower chunks for approx 15-20 minutes in shallow, boiling water. I'm in the habit of seasoning the water with some freshly ground black pepper and a pinch of kosher salt — feel free to follow suit! Once the cauliflower is tender, remove from heat and strain in a colander. Halt the cooking process by rinsing with ice cold water or plunging florets in a bowl of ice water.
- While your veggies are boiling, saute [or caramelize!] your onions with a tablespoon or so of your favorite healthy oil, adding the garlic towards the end to prevent burning. Add the cauliflower, potato, onion, and garlic to your blender or food processor and puree.
- Grab a large pot and add your pureed cauliflower mixture to a cup and a half of vegetable stock. Heat to medium-high, stirring frequently and let simmer for about 10 minutes. Once heated, reduce to low and add your evaporated milk and stir. If you’d like to thin the soup at this point, feel free to add an extra half cup of veggie stock. I like left mine thick! Next step? Season to taste. I added a pinch of salt, a crank of cracked black pepper, a half-tablespoon of parsley and and a sprinkle of red pepper flakes. You’ll be adding pesto at the end which will deliver a huge boost of garlicky flavor — don’t worry if the soup tastes a bit plain at this point. Stir for another minute or so [until its nice and HOT!] and then remove from the burner.
- Top with a heaping spoonful or two of gorgeous green asparagus pesto and a small mountain of freshly grated parmesan or romano cheese. Garnish with red pepper flakes and parsley for a pop of color. When it’s time to dig in, swirl your toppings into the soup and have at it.
Notes
Nutrition
If you get a chance to try this Cheesy Cauliflower Soup, let me know! You can leave me a comment here (LOVE checking those daily!) or tag @PEASandCRAYONS on Instagram so I can happy dance over your creations. I can’t wait to see what you whip up!
Would it be as good made with soy or almond milk……How could I thicken the soup & keep it vegan?
Hi Kate! It will taste different, but I feel like coconut milk would be really fun to experiment with! You would want to tinker with and adjust the spices used to amp up the flavor whilst making it vegan. For a thickener, homemade cashew cream would be a great one to try!
I have a crazy obsession with soups and am so happy I found this through Pinterest! Planning on making all of these soups they look amazing! Thank you for the inspiration 🙂
Sounds amazing, gonna make this for lunch tomorrow 🙂
These are some of the most beautiful foodie pics that I’ve EVER seen. I don’t know how I missed this post first time round. I would love to try this soup as it’s sounds amazing. Just got to work out how to ‘veganize’ it due to my little dairy allergy 😉
Hope you have a good weekend Jenn. Take it easy hun xx
I am on the hunt for soup recipes and I really love this one! Cauliflower obsessed!!
I really love soup especially in rainy or winter season. I must try this one.
Sooo I made this today! Mine is a little browner due to the fact that I caramelized my onions a lot, but it still tastes great! I also made the pesto out of tatsoi (a leafy green closely related to bok choy) and it turned out very interesting! I always thought pesto was very strictly just basil, pine nuts, olive oil, parmesan, and some seasonings whirred together but I’m quickly finding out that so many other veggies can be pesto-fied.
AHHH YAY!!!! Thanks April! I love how pesto can be made out of anything green! So many options! <3
That sounds delicious. Is there something I can substitute for the evaporated milk?
absolutely! Heavy cream or Half and Half have a similar thickness so they work really well. You can also use regular milk and thicken with a little butter or cream cheese too! Most other dairy options should work fabulously!
Lebanese fried cauliflower.
Also? I ADORE the mug and spoon person.
Also? The princess is on a pesto kick for bulking up…. I’ve made 4 batches.
Also? I love you
Wow this soup looks totally amazing. I’m not a soup person but this may just change my mind!
You can even make it so thick that it’s like glorified mashed cauli/potatoes… Then the soup element is gone and its still deeelish!
I’ll admit the last time I tried cauliflower soup it wasn’t the best, but this sounds great with the pesto. I am addicted to homemade soups (I usually make one weekly) so I definitely need to try this!
The pesto sets it apart entirely — it has such a fantastic flavor profile! Hope you try it!
It’s like you knew!! I am currently soup obsessed, I heart cauliflower and asparagus, I have an abundance of garlic from my CSA, and a bunch of leftover pinenuts from a batch of pesto awhile back. I am, no joke or exaggeration, making this soup tomorrow. All I need is a white potato and I’ve already added it to my grocery list. I can’t wait to try this! Thank you!!
Yum! This looks so beautiful, festive, comforting and warm! I love those white bowls too!
Cauliflower soup is my favorite, hot in the winter and cold in the summer. If you substitute leeks for onions it tastes like vichysoisse on steroids! I can’t wait to try it with the asparagus pesto.
I eat cauliflower basically every night, and there’s never a great deal of variation in how I prepare it because I am so stuck in my ways. This soup looks like the perfect way to keep eating my favorite vegetable in a different form! The pesto sounds delightful, too!
These look awesome! I will add them to my list of things to try 🙂
I was wondering, how do you do your Wednesday link up thing? What plug in do you use that allows people to add their blogs? I’d really like to do something similar on my blog on Fridays – please help? [email protected]
emailed ya!
This looks so good and I have most of the items in my house. The only thing is I would like to make it creamy without any milk products. Any ideas?
Hi Jenn,
This soup looks amazing! I am currently working my way through a batch of chili (also in every place I could think to stash in my kitchen) but when I’m done, I’ll come back to you!
H
I’ll be waiting — with veggies! =) xoxo
You know what is fate? These are the groceries I bought yesterday without having any idea the contents of this soup
asparagus, a yellow onion, garlic, cauliflower, vegetable stock, potatoes
God wants this soup to be in my belly. Its just that simple.
*happy dance!*
Oh girl – as soon as I saw this on Instagram, I knew I had to check out the recipe! Sounds absolutely divine!
ahhh! Thanks Peggy!
Soup is the best, whether it’s 100 degrees or 10! Can’t wait to give this a try!
Though when its 100 degrees eating soup requires blasting the AC and drinking iced coffee alongside it. Mandatory =) hehe
I’m ADDICTED to soup in the winter! And this one is going on my recipe list! Deee-lish!
I love it hard! Hope you do too!
I am a huge soup lover. I too have it in the fridge, in the freezer and usually in my belly :). This looks lovely. I love the idea of asparagus pesto. Another delicious looking recipe, Jenn.
Ha this post is so funny! Your love of soup and cauliflower screams off the page! I make a similar soup with sweet potatoes and curry.
By the way… Love your blog!! I grabbed your button to put on my blog 😉
AHHH and thank you again! You rock!
Mmmm…. Sounds delicious!! I shared with my Facebook followers 😉
Thanks Adria!!!
Soup and chili… pretty sure that’s all that awaits me next week, too… 🙂