Cauliflower Soup

Dear Followers,
This blog is going through a "phase" of sorts. We're still going strong in the "no meat" department. Not that we don't eat meat, bc we do, just not at home. This blog is primarily for my own purpose of putting my favorite recipes in one place, so the recipes coming from me are and will be mainly vegetarian and vegan....until I go through another phase. - I made this recipe tonight complete with the cheese crisps. Stan gave the soup a 9.5 and the cheese crisps a 3. I kinda agree. They turned out well on my silpat, but we just didn't love them. The soup is fantastic though. I sometimes get cauliflower in my co-op and I struggle sometimes to know what to do with it. I had this soup at my church the other night and found the recipe online (since I don't know who made it). This recipe was exactly what I had that night. This was also a great meal for 2 people and was a super quick soup to make with just a few ingredients. I had everything on hand except the cheese. It's nice to be able to make dinner and only buy one ingredient. I think my head of cauliflower was a little smaller than most leaving my soup a little more on the thin side, rather than creamy like I wanted. I mixed a little milk and flour and added it to thicken up. It was perfect. I think if I had more cauliflower than I would have been able to omit that last step. Here is the recipe complete with the crisps, but I would skip that part and maybe eat with a nice crusty bread or maybe sprinkle some croutons on top.

Ingredients
Soup:

1 head cauliflower
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 quart low-sodium chicken stock
1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Crisps:

1 cup shredded Parmesan
Chopped chives, for garnish

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Remove the leaves and thick core from the cauliflower, coarsely chop, and reserve. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan or soup pot over medium heat and add the onion and garlic. Cook until softened, but not browned, about 5 minutes. Add the cauliflower and stock and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer, cover, and cook until the cauliflower is very soft and falling apart, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and, using a hand held immersion blender, puree the soup, or puree in small batches in a blender* and return it to the pot. Add the Parmesan and stir until smooth. Season, to taste, with salt and black pepper. Keep warm until ready to serve.
Meanwhile, make the Parmesan crisps:

Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Spread the shredded cheese over the foil in 1 even thin layer. Bake about 10 minutes until golden brown and crisps. Remove from oven and let cool 5 minutes. Break sheet of crisp cheese into large pieces and garnish each soup bowl with a couple shards and a pinch of fresh chives.

*When blending hot liquids: Remove liquid from the heat and allow to cool for at least 5 minutes. Transfer liquid to a blender or food processor and fill it no more than halfway. If using a blender, release one corner of the lid. This prevents the vacuum effect that creates heat explosions. Place a towel over the top of the machine, pulse a few times then process on high speed until smooth.