Soup season is here! With the days getting darker and colder, it’s the perfect time to snuggle up and have a delicious bowl of hearty soup. This Smoked Gouda, Garlic & Cauliflower Soup is comforting fall recipe in itself. However, it gets a refreshing bite with the addition of a fresh herb and crunchy garlic garnish.
Read on to see how to make this tasty soup recipe! Recipe in collaboration with Red Barn Market.
Bringing out the Flavour
You can’t go wrong with making a delicious cauliflower soup during the fall months. Cauliflower is incredibly nutritious, with lots of essential vitamins and minerals that we need to stay healthy. It is also in season here in British Columbia starting this month, so you can begin to find locally grown cauliflower or imported cauliflower at a reduced price.
Admittedly, cauliflower can be a bit flavourless when steamed or stir-fried. However, I really bring out the flavour in this Smoked Gouda, Garlic & Cauliflower Soup recipe by roasting it in the oven! This is a great trick with any vegetable to get more concentrated flavour out of it.
To roast the cauliflower, I simply add it onto a parchment-lined baking sheet with some olive oil and salt and pepper and roast away! While the cauliflower is roasting, I also like to toss on a few garlic cloves to start getting nice and soft and to bring out the sweetness for adding later on in this recipe.
My Favourite Smoked Gouda Cheese
While cauliflower and roasted garlic are a perfect fall ingredient pairing, I like to add a bit of smokiness and creaminess to this Smoked Gouda, Garlic & Cauliflower Soup.
As you can tell from the recipe title, I am using Smoked Gouda in this soup to really bring in some extra layers of flavour and to tie the soup all together. My Smoked Gouda of choice is a locally made smoked gouda from Red Barn Market. Red Barn Market smokes a wide selection of meats and cheeses locally in their smokehouse. Each batch is handcrafted and made on smaller scale, meaning that their products are always fresh for customers!
While Red Barn Market offers a selection of smoked cheeses to choose from, I found that this recipe really works best with their Smoked Gouda. It has a great smoky flavour throughout the cheese that is not too overpowering. Plus, the smoke really brings out a lot of nuttiness that is often found in gouda cheese. The cheese also adds lots of creaminess to the soup so you don’t have to add any cream to make it taste luxurious!
Fall Flavours with a Refreshing (and Crunchy) Twist
While the roasted cauliflower, garlic and Smoked Gouda components of this soup can be a bit heavy, I decided to lighten up the flavours with a fresh herb garnish. I opted to use fresh Italian parsley and chives as the garnish since they are very bright in flavour and really compliment the richness and smokiness of the soup.
To add some crunch and extra flavour, I also fried up some thinly sliced garlic to make little crunchy garlic chips, and used the garlic oil to add to the garnish. This little addition really brings out the flavours of the garlic in this soup, so it’s perfect for anyone who loves lots of garlic flavour!
Get the Recipe!
I hope that you enjoy this hearty and refreshing Smoked Gouda, Garlic & Cauliflower Soup this fall season. If you are local to Victoria, definitely stop by Red Barn Market and pick up some of their Smoked Gouda to make this perfect fall recipe!
Get the full recipe down below! And don’t forget, if you make this recipe, share it with me on Instagram and Facebook with the hashtag #SeasonServeBlog ❤️
Enjoy!
Smoked Gouda, Garlic & Cauliflower Soup
Ingredients
For the Soup:
- 1 large head cauliflower about 4 cups
- 4 garlic cloves whole with skins on
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 4 cups low-sodium chicken stock or vegetable broth
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper optional
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 cup 100g Red Barn Market Smoked Gouda, shredded
For the Garnish:
- 2 tablespoons chives finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons Italian parsley finely chopped
- 4 garlic cloves thinly sliced
- ¼ cup olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
- Remove the core and leaves of the cauliflower and discard. Use a knife to separate the head of cauliflower into florets and place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet in a single layer.
- Add the 4 whole garlic cloves (with skins on) to the baking sheet with the cauliflower. Drizzle the garlic and cauliflower with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and sprinkle evenly with salt and pepper.
- Roast the garlic and cauliflower in the oven for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, the cauliflower and garlic should be lightly browned and softened.
- Remove the skins from the roasted garlic and transfer to a large pot along with the roasted cauliflower. Add the chicken stock and cayenne pepper.
- Bring the soup to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium and cook for 15 minutes, or until the cauliflower has softened.
- While the soup is cooking, fry the garlic for the garnish. Add the ¼ cup of olive oil to a small frying pan along with the thinly sliced garlic. Cook over medium heat until the garlic has turned golden brown and is crispy, about 5-10 minutes. Remove the sliced garlic from the pan and drain on a paper towel. Keep the garlic-infused oil for garnish at the end.
- Let the soup cool slightly before blending with an immersion blender or a high-power blender.
- Transfer the warm soup back to the pot and add the lemon juice and Smoked Gouda cheese. Stir the cheese through until it fully melts into the soup. Reheat if desired, then add into bowls.
- Garnish the soup with chopped chives, chopped parsley, the crispy garlic slices and some extra garlic-infused olive oil. Enjoy!
This is a great recipe and the photography is sophisticated cookbook quality. I loved everything about this soup; the only change I made was I used two heads of garlic. Thank you!
Thank you Rick! You can never have enough garlic in this soup! I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe! 🧄