Difficulty Level Easy

My husband, who is getting to be quite the connoisseur of vegetables at the farmers' market, was quite pleased with himself when he brought home a Romanesco cauliflower the other day. He was a bit crestfallen when I wasn't as excited about his find as he was, but I've not only cooked them, I've written about it as well. My son's girlfriend works in a restaurant and she says they pickle the florets and use them as garnish because they hold their shape and they don't get soft like pickled cauliflower. I'll have to try that and let you know how it turns out.

The Romanesco cauliflower really is a beautiful thing, with all that fractal action going on as well as the vibrant green colour. I wanted to make a soup where you could actually see the cauliflower, so I came up with this soup that is about as simple as it gets. Because there are so few ingredients, you really need good chicken or vegetable stock. If you make it with vegetable stock and leave out the Parmesan cheese it will be vegan, but with all the flu going around now, a little chicken soup may be just what you need. I cooked the pasta in the stock because I'm lazy and didn't want another pot to clean, but it does take a bit longer for the pasta to cook. If you prefer, you could cook it in water and then add it to the stock when it's done.

INGREDIENTS