Roasted Cauliflower and Celeriac Soup with Cumin and Smoked Paprika

I love making soups and I do that often, at least once a week. I think they are the perfect way to concentrate a lot of nutritious ingredients in one bowl. I became a fan when my boys were little and they obstinately wouldn’t eat any cooked vegetables...but once it was all puréed and jazzed up with some rice or pasta, it became the perfect dish to feed them even mushrooms!

Like for any other dish, the secret of a good soup lies obviously in the ingredients: a tasty homemade stock, vegetables that complement each other, herbs and spices and adequate salt.

I will admit that sometimes I am lazy and just chuck in the pot whatever veg is left in the fridge drawer! However, I find that the best result is reached by using vegetables of similar colour as they seem to complement each other perfectly and amplify their taste and qualities.

Ingredients (Serves 6)

1 cauliflower

1 celeriac

2 garlic cloves in their skin

Cumin seeds

Ground cumin

Smoked paprika

Olive oil

Salt and pepper

2 litres home-made chicken or veggie stock

Method

  • Turn oven on to 200C (180C for fan oven).

  • Warm up the stock on medium heat.

  • Cut the cauliflower and celeriac into similar sized pieces and place them in a roasting tray big enough so they don’t overlap together with the garlic cloves.

  • Add a dash of ground cumin and smoked paprika to taste, salt and some cumin seeds if you like.

  • Drizzle with olive oil, cover the tray with foil and roast in the oven until tender, about 40 min.

  • Squish the garlic out of their skin and transfer all veggies to a soup pot. Cover them with the hot stock. The quantity of the stock depends on how you like your soup. I prefer not to add too much liquid because I like mine to be thick and creamy. You can always add some more afterwards.

  • Let it simmer for about 10 min until the veggies start to fall apart.

  • Take the pot off the heat and, taking care not to burn yourself, blitz everything with an immersion blender until smooth.

  • Taste to see if you need to add more salt and pepper.

  • Serve in bowls topped with your favourite topping as below.

Serving Suggestions

Chopped toasted hazelnuts.

A few leaves of parsley or thyme.

Some croutons.

A sprinkle of bacon (grill a few slices of bacon or pancetta and then chop it into tiny bits).

A drizzle of truffle oil or simple extra virgin olive oil.