Skip to main content

The corona cook. Roasted cauliflower with green tahini

Dear cauliflower, I’m sorry, I didn’t appreciate you and your myriad charms. My only excuse is that I was bought up in an era of overcooked cauliflower cheese (something that still fills me with dread) However thanks to the mighty Yotam Ottolenghi and the equally marvellous josh Katz of Berber & Q I have recently succumbed to the wonder of the whole roast spiced cauliflower in a middle-eastern stylie.
This recipe for the lockdown world is a little less elaborate but no less delicious for that. Cauliflower is local and seems to be pretty plentiful and as yet there has not been a big run on chickpeas that I am aware of. We had it with ottolenghi’s green tahini sauce but it would have been delicious without it too.
To roast an average-sized cauliflower, break it into medium to small florets, (thumb-sized is good)or slice it into ½-inch-thick slabs, drizzle with 3 to 4 tablespoons olive oil and season with salt and pepper ( make sure that you coat it in plenty of olive oil you want it to really sizzle in the oven) It’ll aid its transformation. Add any spices or aromatics you like (a pinch of ground turmeric, whole cumin or fennel seed, red-pepper flakes) and roast at 200 + degrees until browned and caramelized, 20 to 30 minutes.
According to Alison Roman of the NYT a common pitfall when roasting is either doing it at too low a temperature or stopping once the cauliflower is tender: You have to stick with it, continuing to roast until the color goes from creamy white to being , nicely tinged with brown. Don’t take it out too soon, that caramelisation is what you are after.
Because it’s so versatile, cauliflower pairs well with nearly anything you want to roast alongside it: I added a pinch of chilli flakes and a small tin of Rinsed chickpeas. We served it with Moro’s Turkish chopped salad and some fresh pita that the lovely Mezet in Hampton Court we’re handing out for free yesterday.


Green Tahini Sauce
ingredients

80g tahini
3 Tblspn lemon juice
80ml warm water
1 clove of garlic, crushed
15g flat-leaf parsley (if making by hand, it should be finely chopped)
sea salt
method
Put the tahini with the garlic and parsley and blitz for about a minute until the sauce is green. Pour in the water, lemon juice and sea salt and blitz until you have a smooth green sauce with the consistency of double cream – add a little more water if it is too thick. This will keep in the fridge for three days.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Crack potatoes courtesy of Ottolenghi. Harissa and confit garlic roast potatoes

Another recipe from Ottolenghi's Simple, another recommendation from Will Saunders.   I know its the middle of summer but who doesn't love a roastie? These little tinkers are so good that they are like crack, class A calories. The clever bit is the addition of semolina and caraway seeds which adds a new level of crunchiness to add to the delicious warm heat of Harissa. Heres the recipe These make a lovely, spicy change from the traditional Sunday roasties. They’re especially good with spiced roast meat. Serves six to eight. 2 large heads garlic, cloves separated and peeled 130g goose or duck fat 4 sprigs fresh rosemary  6 sprigs fresh thyme  2kg maris piper potatoes, peeled and cut into 5cm chunks 40g ground semolina 2 tsp caraway seeds, toasted and lightly crushed 2 tbsp rose harissa Flaky sea salt Heat the oven to 150C/300F/gas mark 2. Put the garlic, fat and herbs in a small ovenproof pan or saucepan for which you have a lid. Cover and roast f...
1 comment
Read more

Nigel Slaters deceptively brilliant monkfish

Lisa discovered this recipe in her favourite Nigel book. It is one of those fish, 'but not as we know it Jim' recipes. Not just because Monkfish is the fish that can best impersonate meat but also because of the marinade ingredients that are more often featured with lamb. It's not difficult to do but the flavour is a revelation, which makes it a perfect recipe in my book. This can be cooked on a grill pan or a barbecue. Ingredients 3 bushy sprigs rosemary, leaves finely chopped 4 anchovy fillets 2 large cloves garlic salt and freshly ground black pepper 1 large lemon, juice only 3 tbsp olive oil 800g/1½lb monkfish fillet Method Pull the leaves from the rosemary stalks and chop them finely, then tip them into a bowl large enough to take the fish. Rinse the anchovy fillets and smash them to a rough pulp with the flat edge of your chopping knife. Peel the garlic, crush it flat, then smash it to a purée in the same way. Stir together the herb, anchovy and garlic, adding a grind...
1 comment
Read more

Cooking Polpo .... Pork and fennel polpette with tomato sauce ... thats meatballs to you and I

Another recipe from the Polpo cookbook. I was inspired to cook this by fellow food fanatic Will Saunders. Its a really, really....i'll say it again....really, easy recipe. Theres a bit of love required to make the tomato sauce but the polpette are a breeze and the combination of fennel and pork tastes great and just a little bit unusual. This made enough for a meal for Martha, Joe and I. A 'food parcel' for Joe to take home and a snack for Lisa when she returned from her screen priniting sojourn in Margate. So it would be plenty for six particularly if you paired it with some pasta or other veg. We had it with a fennel, green bean and rocket salad from the same book. The sauce (makes 1.5 litres) ingredients 100ml extra virgin olive oil 1 white onion, finely sliced 1 garlic clove, chopped 1/2 tbsp salt 1/4 tsp pepper Small pinch chilli flakes 750g fresh tomatoes 3 x 400g tins chopped tomatoes (try and get really nice ones, defo worth it here...
Post a Comment
Read more