Silky Caramelized Pear Soup

 Silky Caramelized Pear Soup

1 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoons coconut sugar (or brown sugar)
6 pears, peeled, cored and cut into 1 inch pieces
1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 sprigs fresh thyme, chopped (or 1/2 t dried, ground thyme)
4 cups gluten free chicken broth
1 bag frozen cauliflower
2 ounce reduced fat blue cheese, crumbled
1/2 cup milk - I use almond (optional)
salt and pepper to taste

Melt the butter in a large sauce pan over medium-high heat, add coconut sugar and cook until bubbling before adding the pears. Cooking until tender and lightly browned, about 5-7 minutes. (Note: If you do not have a very large pan, you may have to do this in batches so that the pear pieces do not overcrowd and steam rather than caramelize.)

Add the onion and cook until tender, about 3-5 minutes. Add the garlic and thyme and cook for another minute.

Add the broth and cauliflower, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until the cauliflower is tender. Using an immersion blender, puree until smooth. You can also process in batches in a blender or food processor.

Return the soup to the pan, mix in the blue cheese, let it melt, and if you'd like the soup a bit thinner, you can add the milk at this point and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Can be served hot or cold. 6-8 appetizer-sized servings.

*Note: not all blue cheeses are gluten free, so make sure you check the package!

This recipe includes a few changes I've made to suit our taste and lifestyle from this original recipe on Closet Cooking. There are some really delicious sounding dishes I can't wait to try and tweak on this blog, go check it out!