Nutty Roasted Cauliflower Soup

I like reading Kevin's blog, Closet Cooking. He always has an interesting dish prepared using combinations of flavors that I might not think of. I really liked how the ingredients in his Roasted Cauliflower and Red Pepper Farro Salad sounded.

Salad, hmm... I'm still in soup mode! So, using his recipe for inspiration, I created this Nutty Roasted Cauliflower Soup.

Cut up a head of cauliflower, two carrots, 10 cloves of garlic and one onion. Roast at 425 F for 40 minutes or until browned.

Toast one cup of walnuts and put them into a food processor. Give them a whirl until they look like...
... this!

When the vegetables have roasted, put them into a saucepan with chicken broth, wine and roasted red pepper. Simmer until the vegetables are tender.

Using an immersion blender (aka trolling motor) blend the soup until creamy. Add one cup of half-and-half and heat through.

I really liked the way this soup turned out. It smells delicious and has a nutty flavor, and although creamy it still has substance to it. Adding the ground walnuts to this thickened it so well that the addition of cream isn't necessary, which makes for a lighter soup!