Why Giada De Laurentiis Adds White Chocolate To Soup - Tasting Table

"After cooking her vegetables, including leeks, celery, parsnips, and cauliflower with seasonings like salt and thyme, in a Dutch oven over medium heat, De Laurentiis blends the ingredients in an immersion blender until smooth. She then returns the soup to low heat and adds the chocolate (⅓ cup of chopped white chocolate for a six-serving portion of soup), whisking until it's melted into the other ingredients. Once she finishes the dish with browned salami, she tops it off with lemon juice and olive oil."

"Giada De Laurentiis adds an unexpected ingredient to her soup. The Italian chef and Food Network personality shares her recipe for cauliflower soup with spicy salami in her 2018 cookbook, "Giada's Italy: My Recipes for La Dolce Vita," and says that when it comes to the secret to the soup's velvety texture, her surprise addition is white chocolate. "It's not as strange as it seems; white chocolate is used in northern Italy to finish dishes and give them a velvety sheen," De Laurentiis explains."

White chocolate is used to create a velvety finish in cauliflower soup paired with spicy salami. Vegetables such as leeks, celery, parsnips, and cauliflower are cooked with salt and thyme in a Dutch oven over medium heat and puréed with an immersion blender until smooth. The soup is returned to low heat and 1/3 cup chopped white chocolate (for six servings) is whisked in until melted. The finished soup is garnished with browned salami, lemon juice, and olive oil. Suggested pairings include hazelnut chicken or marinated bistecca fiorentina, and the soup can be served from a mug on a cold day. White chocolate and cocoa powder are also used in other creamy soups, such as roasted parsnip and vanilla chocolate soup.

Read at Tasting Table