Roasted Cauliflower and Garlic Ramp Soup

Craving the creamy taste of those rainy day comfort foods? Try this lighter version and almost guaranteed you will not miss the potato!

The silent ingredient-roasting! I use cauliflower as a replacement in a lot of recipes, and the flavor is a great substitute for many neutral items-rice, potato, noodles, etc. But what I love about hearty soup recipes is achieving that rich, creamy flavor and texture without needing to use cream at all! Letting the cauliflower slowly roast in the oven allows the edges to darken in color, and also generate an almost smoky flavor. The perfectly roasted garlic bulb amplifies this further with the amber colored cloves that are produced, and really tie together the entire soup’s flavor (if it was not frowned upon, I would eat these cloves with a spoon-truly edible gold!).

Celebrating the Main Event. While the cauliflower and garlic set the stage for this fantastic soup, the star player here is the wild ramp. Using the bottom half to sauté gives the soup the underlying onion flavor one would expect in a classic leek soup. Waiting until the end to add the leaves of the ramp retains a lot of the natural flavor, which brings through the scallion/leek vibes of the greens, as well as adding a little texture to the soup.

Perfect for a rainy day when looking for a hearty soup, or light lunch paired with a tossed green salad!

If you are in search of other ways to use ramps, check out some of these recipes:

Ramp and Shiitake Mushroom Soup

Ramp and Asparagus Fried Cauliflower Rice

I’d love to know how your soup turned out! Please comment below and share with others!

Roasted Cauliflower and Garlic Ramp Soup

Hannah

A lighter take on the traditional potato leek soup, this rendition uses roasted cauliflower as a rich base for the wild ramps.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 50 minutes mins

Course Soup

Cuisine French

Servings 2

Equipment

• Baking Dish
• Tin Foil
• Saucepan
• Kitchen knife
• Immersion blender

Ingredients

  

• 1/2 bulb Garlic
• 1/2 head Large Cauliflower
• 2 tbsp Olive Oil
• 1/4 cup Shallot
• 1 bunch Ramps (about 4 inch diameter bunch)
• 3/4 cup Vegetable Broth
• 1/4 cup Heavy Whipping Cream
• 1 tsp Fresh Oregano
• 1/2 tsp Black Pepper
• 1/2 tsp Salt

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Break apart cauliflower into medium sized chunks, about the size of golf balls, and add to baking dish. Toss with olive oil and a sprinkle of salt.
• Taking the half garlic bulb, skins still on, slice off the top 1/8 inch so that you can see the tops of the bare cloves. Making a little pocket out of tin foil, drizzle the top of the bulb with oil and wrap tightly in foil. Place on baking dish with cauliflower and bake for about 40 minutes, stirring occasionally to keep an oil coating while roasting.
• When cauliflower and garlic are done roasting (a little browning is good, but try to avoid too dark), remove from oven, and carefully peel back foil to allow the garlic to cool.
• In saucepan, heat a little oil, add chopped shallot, oregano and the bottom half of the ramps, sliced in pieces, until slightly tender.
• Peeling each clove from the garlic bulb, squeeze the soft inside into the saucepan, and add broth and cauliflower, stirring together.
• Remove pan from heat, and carefully use immersion blender to create a smooth puree. Replace pan to low heat, and cutting into 1/4 inch pieces, put top of ramps into the puree along with salt and pepper.
• Stir together until ramps are cooked through, and add cream, along with a little broth if needed for desired consistency.

  Variation: for a vegan version, omit cream and add a little more broth.

Keyword Cauliflower, Fresh, Healthy, Keto, Ramps, vegetarian