Cauliflower & Broccoli Soup!

I had a big head of cauliflower and some broccoli in my veggie drawer that I needed to use but didn't know quite how I was going to do that.

I decided to check out The Pioneer Woman's website to see if she had any recipes for either of my veggie friends. She did! She has a recipe on her site for Cauliflower Soup. Well that solved half my problem...but she uses 1 1/3 heads of cauliflower...oops, I only had 1 head. So the obvious solution was to make Cauliflower AND Broccoli Soup! Problem solved!

Here is a link to Ree's recipe on her site, The Pioneer Woman. The recipe below is for what I made...Cauliflower & Broccoli Soup. It's her recipe but just with 1 head of cauliflower and to small head of broccoli.

Be warned...this makes a ton! I shared 5 pints with the neighbors and I still have about 4 pints left for us...plus the two bowls I had for lunch! YES! It was that good!

Cauliflower & Broccoli Soup

Ingredients:

1 stick butter, divided
½ whole onion, finely diced
1 whole carrot, finely diced
1 stalk celery, finely diced
1 whole cauliflower head, roughly chopped

2 small broccoli heads, roughly chopped
2 Tbsp. fresh or dried parsley, chopped
2 quarts (64 oz.) low-sodium chicken broth or stock
6 Tbsp.all-purpose flour
2 cups whole milk
1 cup half-and-half
2 tsp. to 4 tsp. salt, to taste
1 cup (heaping) sour cream, room temperature

Directions:

1. In a large soup pot or dutch oven, melt 4 tablespoons butter. Add the onion and cook for a few minutes, or until it starts to turn brown. Add the carrots and celery and cook an additional couple of minutes. Add cauliflower, broccoli and parsley and stir to combine. Cover and cook over very low heat for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, pour in chicken stock or broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and allow to simmer.

2. In a medium saucepan, melt 4 tablespoons butter. Mix the flour with the milk and whisk to combine. Add flour-milk mixture slowly to the butter, whisking constantly until a thick white sauce. Remove from heat and stir in 1 cup half-and-half. Add mixture to the simmering soup.

3. Allow to simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. Check seasoning and add more salt or pepper if necessary.
4. Just before serving, place the sour cream in a serving bowl or soup tureen. Add two to three ladles of hot soup into the tureen and stir to combine with the sour cream. Pour in remaining soup and stir.

5. Serve immediately.

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen!