This soup gets better with age. You can roast the vegetables and make the soup without adding the yogurt or cream a day or two ahead to enhance the flavors.
Ingredients
- 1 large Spanish onion, peeled, halved and sliced
- 1 bulb fennel, trimmed, halved and roughly chopped
- 2 ribs celery, chopped
- 1 medium head cauliflower, cleaned, trimmed and roughly chopped
- 6 cloves peeled garlic
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- Salt, pepper and ground white pepper to taste
- 4 tablespoons (half stick) unsalted butter
- 2-3 fresh sage leaves (note: original recipe called for Bay Leaves)
- 5 cups low-sodium vegetable or chicken stock
- ¼ cup plain Greek-style yogurt
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 3 tablespoons finely minced chives
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°.
- Toss the vegetables with olive oil and season with 2 teaspoons salt and a pinch of white pepper.
- Place them on a large baking sheet in the oven. When vegetables are roasted but not too browned (about 15 to 20 minutes), remove from oven.
- In a medium sauce pot melt butter and add roasted vegetables along with sage. Add stock to cover the vegetables and add salt.
- Bring to a boil then quickly reduce to a simmer. Simmer for 10 minutes.
- Puree soup in a blender. You can cool and refrigerate at this point if you’re not planning to serve the soup the same day. Reheat over medium-low heat when you’re ready to serve.
- Add yogurt and cream.
- Quickly pulse soup to distribute the cream and yogurt. Optionally, strain the soup through a fine-mesh sieve for a more refined velvety-textured soup. Return to pot and season with salt to taste.
- Serve in warm bowls topped with minced chives or calabrian chilis.
Notes
Don’t skimp on space when roasting the vegetables. Make sure they are in a single layer with room. Use a second sheet if necessary.
Make sure the vegetables are dry before roasting. The combination of wet vegetables and not enough room to roast results in steaming rather than roasting – and the flavor and texture suffer.
