Dinner Tonight: Roasted Vegetable Soup

It's still cool enough here that soup makes a pleasant dinner. This one's a quick recipe which can get you from start to eating in 30-ish minutes, especially since the cooking is split to get you tasty roasted vegetables while taking care of the potatoes separately.

Roasted Vegetable Soup with Goat Cheese

1 head broccoli 1/2 head cauliflower 2 medium onions, peeled and quartered 4 - 6 cloves garlic, peeled and lightly smashed olive oil salt pepper 4 large Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2" cubes ~6 c. chicken broth 1/2 c. soft chevre or aged blue goat cheese Good extra virgin olive oil for garnishing

• Before any other step, preheat the oven to 500F.
• Cut the stem off the broccoli head. Cut the head into small florets and place in a roasting pan. Peel the woody outer layer from the stem and slice the stem into 1/4" coins. Put the stem pieces in the roasting pan. Cut the cauliflower head into pieces and toss in the pan along with the onions and garlic cloves. Drizzle the vegetables with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and toss to cover. Roast in the oven for 10 minutes. Stir the pieces around and roast another 10 minutes.
• While the vegetables are roasting in the oven, put the potato cubes into a large stock pot or heavy soup pot. Pour in enough broth to cover by at least 1". Bring to a simmer, lower the heat and cover. Simmer until the vegetables are cooked.
• Add the roasted vegetables to the stock pot. If needed, add more broth to cover the vegetables by 1". Cover and simmer for 10 minutes.
• Puree the soup using an immersion blender or in a regular blender. Add more broth if needed to get a nice thick soup.
• Check seasonings and correct with more salt or pepper if needed.
• Ladle the soup into bowls and spoon a bit of goat cheese into the center. Drizzle a bit of good olive oil around. Serve with garlic crostini, or just any good bread.

NOTES: If you're using store bought stock/broth, add a bit of thyme (fresh, preferrably) or sage to help richen up the flavor. Food processors don't work well for pureeing soup -- they just whirl the chunks around. Use an immersion blender if you've got one, or a regular blender. I got a Braun immersion blender some years ago (like this one) and I've loved it.