Smoky Roasted Cauliflower Soup with Herbed Chickpea Dumplings

1. Preheat the oven to 400 F. In a large bowl toss the cauliflower with half of the olive oil and half of the salt. Spread the cauliflower in an even layer on a large rimmed baking sheet and roast until tender and browned in spots, about 20 to 25 minutes, tossing once halfway through.
2. Meanwhile, heat the remaining olive oil in a 5-quart pot over medium heat. Add the onion and carrot and cook until slightly softened, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic and cook 2 minutes more, stirring constantly.
3. Add the remaining salt, the bay leaves, spices (smoked paprika through black pepper), vegetable stock, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce and soy sauce. Turn the heat up to high and bring to a simmer, then turn the heat down a bit to keep it at a simmer and cook for 10 minutes. Add the roasted cauliflower into the soup during the last 2 minutes of simmer time. Taste the soup and add additional salt and pepper as desired.
4. While the soup simmers, make the dumpling batter. Whisk together the besan, salt, baking powder, scallion and parsley in a medium bowl. Use a wooden spoon to stir in the water a little at a time until it comes together into a thick dough (about the consistency of cookie dough).
5. Use a 1 tablespoon measure to drop scoops of the batter into the simmering soup. Lightly spoon a little broth over the dumplings, then cover the pot and cook until a toothpick inserted into a dumpling comes out clean, about 10 to 15 minutes.
6. Ladle the soup into bowls, sprinkle the minced fresh parsley on top if desired and serve.

Notes:
– Non-vegan: If keeping this soup vegan isn’t a concern, feel free to use regular Worcestershire sauce and chicken stock instead of vegetable stock.
– Reheating: Not to worry if some of the dumplings disintegrate into the soup as they’re cooking. This is normal. Just a heads-up if you try to reheat the leftovers … try not to stir the soup too much because the dumplings will disintegrate even more. (Of course the soup still tastes fine this way, it just isn’t as pretty.)
– Time-saver: Instead of making the dumplings, add 1 or 2 cans of chickpeas (rinsed and drained) into the soup instead.