Creamy Romanesco Broccoli Soup With Cheese and Sausages

Romanesco Soup is an artful and exciting dish that has gained popularity among food enthusiasts. This unique soup features Romanesco, also known as Romanesco broccoli or Roman cauliflower, as the star ingredient. As you explore new green meal options, Romanesco soup might become one of your new favorite green meals.

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• Ingredients
• Instructions
• How to serve it
• Variations and substitution
• More recipes you may like
• 📋Creamy Romanesco Broccoli Soup With Cheese and Sausages

This beautiful soup lends itself to creativity, allowing you to experiment with various flavors and ingredients, making it a versatile addition to your culinary repertoire.

Romanesco broccoli soup can be enjoyed as a main course or a light appetizer, making it perfect for various occasions.

The soup recipe typically features a blend of vegetables, broth, and spices, resulting in a smooth and creamy soup.

One of the most captivating aspects of Romanesco soup is its beautiful green color, which adds an appealing visual element to your dining experience.

As you enjoy this delicious soup, you'll find it a feast for your taste buds and eyes.

To add more interest, I added spicy sausages and, Parmesan cheese, and even some freshly cooked pasta.

These ingredients can transform any smooth soups into delicious main courses

Try Romanesco soup, and discover how this dish can elevate your culinary adventures.

For more Romanesco or broccoli recipes you can check: Romanesco cupcake, cavatelli and broccoli, chicken soup minestrone, and pumpkin soup.

Understanding Romanesco

Romanesco is an intriguing vegetable that combines the features of both broccoli and cauliflower.

This edible flower has a light green color and a striking pattern of points that resemble a fractal.

It's a Brassica family member, including Brussels sprouts, cabbage, and kale.

While its appearance may be captivating, don't let that deter you from enjoying its unique taste with a mild cabbage flavor and various health benefits.

When you're ready to cook with romanesco, start by selecting a fresh head with a bright green color and firm stalk.

You'll find that its flavor is quite similar to that of cauliflower and broccoli, with a slightly nutty and earthy taste.

Due to its versatility, you can prepare romanesco in various ways, such as blanching the florets, roasting, or incorporating them into a soup.

Romanesco cauliflower is as beneficial to your health as it is aesthetically pleasing, making it a great addition to your diet.

Ingredients

Main Ingredients

You will need fresh and high-quality main ingredients for a perfect Romanesco Soup. These include:

• Romanesco: This is the star ingredient of the dish. Look for a firm, bright green Romanesco with tight florets for the best flavor and texture.
• Onion, carrot and celery: a classic Italian soffritto to add flavor to any dish. Choose a medium-sized white or yellow onion, as both offer a mild flavor that complements the soup.
• Potatoes: Any medium-sized potatoes would work - peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes. They help thicken the soup and provide a creamy texture.
• Garlic: Incorporating fresh garlic cloves adds an essential flavor to the soup.
• Chicken or vegetable stock: It adds creaminess to the soup. I always have a stock of frozen broth and you can read the articles: chicken stock or brown stock.
• Spicy sausages: Adding spicy sausages to Romanesco soup introduces a kick of heat that contrasts and complements the milder, nutty flavor of Romanesco, while also creating a more complex flavor profile as the spices from the sausage infuse into the soup.

In this recipe, I used merguez sausage as they are very common here in France. Merguez sausages are a type of North African sausage made with lamb or beef, spiced with a blend of cumin, sumac, and harissa or chili pepper paste, and traditionally encased in lamb intestines, resulting in a spicy and flavorful delicacy.

Optional:

• Pasta: Adding some cooked pasta to the Romanesco soup can transform it into a more substantial and comforting dish, providing a pleasant textural contrast and making it a more satisfying meal. You can use regular maccheroni or ditaloni. In some pictures I used Pasta Garofalo Fusillone

In addition to these primary ingredients, you may include other vegetables, like leeks, zucchini, to enhance the overall taste and texture.

It is the perfect opportunity to use up those veggies in the fridge.

Seasonings

Selecting the right seasonings can truly elevate your Romanesco Soup to the next level. Here are some suggestions for seasoning your soup:

• Olive Oil: This popular oil is great for sautéing vegetables and adds a distinct flavor to the soup.
• Salt: Both kosher and sea salt work well in this recipe. Adjust the salt according to your personal taste.
• Black pepper: Adding pepper provides an extra hint of spice and balances the flavors in the soup.

Optional

• Lemon zest: and/or a squeeze of fresh lemon juice adds brightness and a touch of acidity to the soup.
• Paprika: For added warmth and depth, consider incorporating smoked or regular paprika if you are not adding the spicy sausages.
• Thyme: The herb adds an earthy and fragrant component to the soup.

Feel free to customize the seasonings based on your taste preferences, the ingredients you have available, and the vegetables you need to use up.

Toppings

The finishing touch to your Romanesco Soup can be a variety of toppings that add flavor, richness, and texture. Some popular options include:

Parmesan Cheese: Grating fresh Parmesan cheese on top offers the soup a nutty and salty kick. You can also add gruyere cheese

Other options are:

• Cream: A dollop of cream can impart a creamy element to the dish.
• Pesto: Drizzling homemade or store-bought pesto enhances the flavor profile with herby and garlicky notes.
• Chives: Chopped chives work as a garnish, providing color contrast, and a subtle oniony taste.
• Butter: A small spoonful of unsalted butter melted on the soup surface adds a silky richness.

Don't be afraid to get creative with your toppings; feel free to adjust them to suit your preferences.

Instructions

Initial Preparation

1. Before you start cooking, chop the onion, carrot, celery
2. Cut the romanesco into florets, rinse them, and set aside.
3. Peel and cut the potatoes and any other vegetables into 1-inch cubes.

Cooking the Soup

1. In a casserole or large pot at medium heat, stir fry with olive oil the spicy sausages cut into small bites for 1-2 minutes.
2. Remove them from the pan Once they release their spicy fat. If too much fat is released, drain some but leave some to stir fry the vegetables.
3. Stir fry the soffritto, onion, carrot, celery for a couple of minutes, letting the vegetables absorb the spicy juices from the sausages
4. Add the remaining vegetables cut into pieces and pour the stock to cover them completely
5. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat to let it simmer. Cover the pot with a lid and allow the soup to cook for about 20-30 minutes or until the vegetables become tender.
6. In the meantime, finish cooking the sausages in the oven for 15 minutes.

Final Steps

7. After the vegetables are tender use an immersion blender to blend the soup to achieve a smooth consistency
8. To finish the soup, adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper to taste, and optionally add some cooked pasta
9. Heat the soup for a few more minutes, then serve it in bowls, garnished with the cooked sausage to add a crunchy texture and topped with plenty of Parmesan cheese or grated gruyere cheese

Hint: reduce the heat giving the steam room to escape to avoid splattering when using the hand blender.

How to serve it

For a hearty, comforting meal perfect for chilly winter nights, serve this spicy Romanesco soup with sausages and pasta, topped with melted Parmesan or Gruyère cheese.

The blend of Romanesco, sausages, and pasta makes this a complete meal in a bowl that can be prepared beforehand.

Just warm it up and add the cooked pasta on a busy winter weeknight.

The melted cheese adds a creamy, savory richness that beautifully ties all the flavors together.

This dish is a delight to the senses and a practical choice for busy households.

Variations and substitution

Vegan Variant

Creating a vegan version of the Romanesco soup is incredibly easy and just as delicious.

Substitute the chicken stock with vegetable broth to keep the base of the soup vegan-friendly.

Just simmer a carrot, onion and a celery stalk in salted water for 20 minutes.

Instead of spicy sausage, incorporate a spicy vegetable sauce like Bomba Calabrese or Harissa.

These sauces will add a kick to the soup without any animal products.

Just check the sauces' labels to ensure they are completely vegan.

This way, you can enjoy this comforting soup's rich flavors and warmth while adhering to a vegan diet.

Substitution

While Romanesco is the star ingredient in this recipe, it is not always easily available in all regions or seasons.

Fortunately, this soup is incredibly versatile, and the Romanesco can be substituted with broccoli or cauliflower without compromising on taste or nutrition.

Both broccoli and cauliflower have similar textures and flavors to Romanesco, making them perfect alternatives.

Just follow the same cooking process as you would with Romanesco, and you'll have a delicious, warming bowl of soup ready to enjoy.

More recipes you may like

For more soups recipe you can check out the category Soups & Stews:

• Fresh Tomato Soup Salmorejo
• Chayote Squash Mousse with Mussels
• Seafood Chowder Bread Bowl
• Italian Chicken Soup Minestrone
• Roast Pumpkin Soup with Edible Flowers
• Jerusalem artichoke soup

If you want to use the Romanesco at its best by showing its gorgeous fractal, check out the recipe: A Captivating Vegetable Romanesco Recipe.

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