I forgot to buy split peas.
I had been musing about my good fortune as to have such wonderful friends who understand me. I was ruminating on this fact today because you see I had been sent home with the leftover hambone from Friendsgiving’s dinner, (AND the turkey bones) bless those friends of mine. I suppose I was distracted by my musings and my keenness to use the hambone that would otherwise have been discarded. All day long I had planned on having a big hearty bowl of split pea soup for dinner and what happens? I forgot to buy the dang split peas. Le sigh…
It was late and a state of hangry was soon to be upon my household so going to the store again was out of the question. Not to be defeated, I rummaged around in the fridge to see what I could come up with for dinner. To my surprise, I found a whole head of cauliflower, alllll the way at the back and almost but not quite past it’s prime, and realized this was an excellent and tasty opportunity to avoid food waste! Eureka!
I decided to roast the cauliflower and onion first for some extra flavor. I then realized that my prized hambone was still frozen, so I threw that in the oven too in order to defrost and build some additional flavor. I chopped the rest of my veggies and sautéed them with thyme right in my instant pot. You could say ‘thyme’ was of the essence in many ways, and the instant pot was the tool for the job tonight. Once soft I pulled out half of my veggies and reserved them for garnish, along with some of the now roasted cauliflower florets. Then into the pot went the rest of the cauliflower, veggie stock and some water along with the hambone. I had been able to slice off about a cup of ham from the bone, so I reserved the diced pieces as well.
About a half hour and a round with the stick blender later my soup was done, and what a happy soup it was. Dinner was on, the food was saved and the hangry demons were banished! (At least for today)
Roasted Cauliflower and Ham Bone Soup
Equipment
- Instant pot
Ingredients
- 1 medium cauliflower head stem chopped, florets separated
- 1 medium red onion, large chop
- 3 tbsp olive oil divided
- 3 carrots, diced
- 3 sprigs thyme
- 4 cups vegetable broth or stock
- 2 cups water
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 cup ham, diced optional
- parmesan cheese optional, for serving
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°
- Toss cauliflower and onion pieces with 2 tablespoons olive oil along with salt and pepper to taste. Bake on a rimmed baking sheet for about 20 minutes, or until the cauliflower develops some golden color, onions will begin to brown.
- Heat remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil on the sauté function of your instant pot. (if you don't have one see recipe note #1) Add the diced carrot and thyme with a pinch of salt and sauté until soft, reserve about half of the carrots. Once cauliflower is done roasting you may choose to reserve 1-2 small florets per serving of soup you anticipate serving, this is completely optional. (#2)
- Add roasted onions and cauliflower to the instant pot along with vegetable broth, ham bone, water and bay leaf. Cover and remember to close your vent. Set and cook for 30 minutes on normal pressure.
- Once pressure cooking has finished use the quick release method, remember to be careful and avoid the steam! Remove ham bone, bay leaf and thyme.
- Use an immersion blender (or regular blender) and blend contents of the pot until well blended. If you desire a thicker soup use the sauté function and cook the soup to reduce until your desired consistency. Taste for seasoning, add salt and pepper as desired.
- Ladle soup into bowls and top with reserved veggies and ham. Parmesan is optional but encouraged!
Yum! I’m always looking for more excuses to use the Instant Pot, and you know I’m always on board for my favorite veggie cauliflower 😉