romanesco broccoli and potato soup

 

 

Brrrr….it is cold out there today. Here in the Midwest we had a gorgeous weekend with temperatures in the 65s and 70s. I happily donned flip-flops for probably the last time for 2012. Today, the temperature took a dive though – back to boots.

I had received this funny looking tree-like vegetable in my weekly organic produce box. I guessed it was in the cauliflower family since it resembled and smelled like cauliflower, except it was green. I looked it up, and this vegetable I had to find a use for answers to a few different names; romanesco broccoli, roman cauliflower or broccoflower. Romanesco broccoli can be cooked similar to how you would cauliflower or broccoli. The texture is tenderer than cauliflower so it can easily be eaten raw. Next time I get one of these I am going to attempt some raw ‘rice’.

In this recipe, I paired it potatoes and another root vegetable, the parsnip.

Ingredients

• 1 head romanesco broccoli / roman cauliflower / broccoflower, chopped
• 1 onion, roughly chopped
• 6 small potatoes, yellow or white flesh, chopped (I left the skins on)
• 3-4 parsnips, chopped
• 4-6 cups vegetable stock (enough to cover vegetables)
• ¼ cup dry white wine
• 2 cloves garlic, diced
• 1 tbsp. olive oil or Earth Balance
• 1 tbsp. dried rosemary
• 1 tbsp. dried thyme
• 1 tsp. Montreal steak spice
• ½ tsp. sea salt, more to taste

Directions

1. Heat Earth Balance or olive oil in a soup pot, then sauté onions until translucent. Add garlic and sauté until the liquid has evaporated.
2. Add dry white wine and de-glaze the pot, scraping any pieces of stuck onion or garlic.
3. Add romeneso broccoli, potatoes and parsnips and let sit, stirring occasionally for about 10 minutes. Then add enough vegetable stock to cover. Replace up to 2 cups of vegetable stock with water if you like and bring to a boil.
4. Reduce heat to low-medium, add thyme, rosemary, salt and Montreal steak spice, stir, then let simmer for approximately 20 minutes until veggies are fork-tender.
5. Puree in a blender in batches, or use an immersion blender.
6. To serve I found it very tasty to top with crumbled gluten-free onion flavored crackers.