Home-Grown Cauliflower

Do you know what cauliflower tastes like? I’m talking about home-grown cauliflower, not that white tasteless stuff you buy at the grocery store. If you’ve never grown cauliflower, I bet you’ve never really tasted it.

This fall we planted a few Romanesco cauliflowers. These plants form a green head with florets that grow in an obvious fractal pattern. Sometimes I just stare in wonder at this most interesting piece of the Lord’s creation. I believe there’s a divine geometry that underpins the entire universe, and it really manifests itself in certain plants like the Romanesco cauliflower. A few plants were not yet ready to harvest, so I tied the leaves around the heads and covered them in hopes of keeping them alive. But two of the plants were ready to harvest last week, so I picked them just ahead of the freezing weather that arrived on Sunday. We haven’t grown cauliflower in a few years. I forgot how sweet they can be. I made one of the heads into a soup Monday night. Here’s the recipe:

1 large head of cauliflower 1 lb. cubed ham 1 onion 1 bell pepper 2 sticks of celery 3 cloves of garlic 1 quart of chicken stock 1 pint of cream ½ lb. of shredded cheese (I used a mix of manchego, asiago and parmesan; cheddar also works really well with this recipe) 2-3 tablespoons of butter 1 bay leaf Salt and pepper A few sprigs of thyme (optional) Chili pepper flakes (optional) Chives, chopped (optional) 

First, melt the butter in a pot large enough to hold all the ingredients. Dice the onion, bell pepper, celery and garlic and add them to the butter, along with the cubed ham. Add the bay leaf. While those cook, remove the core of the cauliflower head and cut it into bite-size florets. Add the cauliflower to the pot and stir. Sprinkle in some salt and pepper. Saute everything for a minute or two before adding the chicken stock.

Bring the pot to a low simmer. Optionally, strip the sprigs of thyme, chop, and add to the pot. Cook for about 30-40 minutes until the cauliflower gets soft. Taste the broth and add salt and pepper if needed. Turn the heat to the lowest setting and stir in the cream and the shredded cheese. Once the cheese is melted turn off the heat.

Ladle the hot soup into bowls and top with some more shredded cheese and garnish with chili pepper flakes and chives.

You can certainly try this recipe with store-bought cauliflower, but it won’t have the same sweetness. Enjoy!