Roasted Cauliflower and Ham Bone Soup
A hearty yet light soup to make from a leftover ham bone.
Servings: 4
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!
Notes
#1 If you do not have an instant pot it is still completely possible to make this soup. You'll follow the same process in a large pot on the stovetop, but I encourage you to let your veggies and hambone stew longer, at least an hour, to extract flavor. You'll want to monitor the liquid level and add additional stock or water as needed.
#2 Garnishing with veggies and ham is completely optional, but encouraged to make the soup look nice and provide a contrast in texture. If you prefer a completely smooth soup omit the ham and skip reserving any of the other veggies so you can blend everything all together.
#3 I used orange and white carrots in my soup as pictured because I had rainbow carrots on hand. I do not recommend using purple carrots due to the color they will impart on your soup, its already a bit brown, but if this doesn't bother you go for it!