Cauliflower Soup with Grilled Cheese Croutons
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for drizzling
1 head cauliflower, cut into florets
1/2 medium yellow onion, diced
4 cloves garlic. minced
1 teaspoon dried thyme
3 1/2 cups vegetable broth
1/4 cup heavy cream
salt and fresh cracked black pepper to taste
2 tablespoons butter
4 slices crusty bread
4 ounces cheddar Cheese, sliced
Directions:
Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Cook onions, garlic and thyme just until onions softened, about 3 minutes. Stir in cauliflower. Pour in 1 1/2 cups of the vegetable brother. Cover and cook cauliflower until fork tender, about 20 minutes.
Pour in remaining vegetable broth. Use an immersion blender to blend until smooth.
Whisk in 1 tablespoon of hot soup into the cream to temper it. Slowly whisk tempered cream into the soup. Reduce heat to low and allow to simmer while you prepare the grilled cheese croutons. The soup will thicken a little bit during this time.
Butter one side of each slice of bread. Place the cheese on the non-buttered side of two slices of bread. Topped with the other slices of bread. Cook in a skillet until bread is golden and cheese is melted. Remove, allow to cool 1 minute and slice into crouton shapes.
Ladle soup into bowls, place a few croutons in the bowl, drizzle with olive oil and more black pepper if desired.
