Smoked Paprika, Bacon & Roasted Cauliflower Soup

Preheat oven to 375ºF.

Thoroughly wash and roughly chop the cauliflower head. Sprinkle with olive oil, smoked paprika, salt, and pepper and lay in a single layer on a lightly oiled baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes at 375ºF until fork tender.

While cauliflower is roasting, chop bacon into small pieces and fry until crispy. Remove bacon from the pan, and remove all drippings except for 1 tablespoon. Depending on the fat of your bacon, you may not need to remove any drippings. Add chopped onion to the pan and drippings and cook until translucent. Use a rubber spatula to transfer onions and pan drippings to a medium-sized pot.

Remove cauliflower from the oven and transfer to the pot. Add milk, chicken stock, thyme, parsley, bay leaf, and potato chunks. Bring to a low boil over medium high heat. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.

Remove the bay leaf and use an immersion blender to blend the soup to a smooth consistency. If you don’t have an immersion blender, you can transfer small amounts of soup at a time to a standard blender or food processor to blend until smooth. Once all the soup is blended, transfer it back into the pot. Add additional salt and pepper to taste. Top with bacon and chopped green onion to serve.