Sunday Soups: Cauliflower Soup with Crispy Prosciutto and Parmesan

The Soup:
The first soup of the project was Cauliflower Soup with Crispy Prosciutto and Parmesan. I made a few modifications, one purposeful, the other was not.

The basic recipes directs you to saute leeks in butter, add cauliflower florets, chicken stock, and a pinch of cayenne pepper and simmer until it achieves the right consistency. Then you use an immersion blender to make it smooth. At this point you add creme fraiche and some grated Parmesan. Some in my family have trouble with rich creams so I left out the creme fraiche and added a bit of 2% milk instead. The recipe has you saute some prosciutto and add it to the soup at this point but I didn't do this part either. Trader Joe's gives its employees the day off on New Year's Day so when I was shopping for ingredients today, I was unable to get the prosciutto. Still, the soup turned out very well without these two fairly important ingredients. I garnished each bowl with more grated Parmesan and chopped parsley and served with a sliced baguette and green salad with classic vinaigrette.

A nice feature of the book is that it has a section of recipes for suggested side dishes to serve with your soup that includes salads, sandwiches, and dressings.

The results:
The family all enjoyed this soup. They liked the texture - creamy & a bit thick, and the flavor - a little spicy and full bodied. Some in the family commented that soup in general is not a preferred meal due to its consistency that resembles a beverage more than solid food and its lightness vs. heartiness factor as a meal. This can of course be changed up a bit with thicker soups and stews that make use of chunky meats and seafood. We'll definitely get to some of these over the course of the year. I enjoyed this soup a lot. The creamy texture is very nice and the Parmesan gave it a nice flavor both as an ingredient and as a garnish.

Star Rating:
15 year old: 3.5 stars
12 year old: 3 stars
9 year old: 3.5 stars