Roasted Cauliflower & Zucchini White Cheddar Soup

I’ve been looking at a few roasted vegetable soups and been debating what to try and I settled on this hearty and healthy mix of veggies. So sit back, relax and enjoy a lovely cup of soup!

• 1 head of Cauliflower (chopped up into medium sized pieces)
• 1 medium sized zucchini (cut into medallions)
• Olive Oil
• Sea Salt
• Course Ground Pepper
• 800 ml of Chicken Broth
• 2 shallots (roughly chopped)
• 3 cloves of garlic (roughly chopped)
• 2 tbsp of bacon bits
• 2 cups of white cheddar
• Few leaves from fresh thyme for sprinkling on top

Preheat the oven to 350ºF. On a cookie sheet, place the chopped up cauliflower and zucchini, drizzle with olive oil and top with the sea salt and course ground pepper. Place into the over for 30-40 minutes (or until the cauliflower can be easily broken off with a fork).

In a large stockpot, combine the chicken stock, shallots, garlic and bacon and bring to a rolling boil. Once the cauliflower and zucchini are done, place into the stockpot. Cover and let the veggies simmer for another 10-15 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool. Once the soup is warm (just don’t want it hot otherwise it could melt your immersion blender), blend everything into a smooth consistency using an immersion blender.

Once everything is smooth, place back onto heat, add more salt and pepper to taste and slowly blend in 1 1/2 cups of the white cheddar. Before serving, top each bowl with some more cheese and a few leaves of fresh thyme.

Enjoy & if anyone is living in as cold of a place that we are (i.e. hit – 45ºC today) you will NEED this soup to stay warm!

Carlene