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The not so humble cauliflower. Roasted Whole Cauliflower with Green Tahini Sauce


This recipe is from Simple, the new Ottolenghi book. I have seen some criticism that it is almost too simple, which it certainly is in comparison to many of his previous outings, but that’s what I like about it, and there are still enough interesting touches to make it Ottolengish.
Here its the addition of the green tahini which the book says is optional, for me its this combination that is genius, although I have to confess to being a tahini nut!
Roasted cauliflower is something that seems to have appeared out of nowhere over the last year or two and I have to confess it has transformed this vegetable that I associate with something I loathe (Cauliflower cheese) to something that can be a real star ingredient. It’s also very cheap and local!
We had it with drinks, I broke the cauliflower into florets, rather than leaving people to tear apart with their hands which the book suggests.
Ingredients

 1 large cauliflower with its leaves intact
45g unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
2 Tbs olive oil
wedges of lemon, to serve
coarse sea salt

 method

 Using a pair of scissors, lightly trim the leaves at the top of the cauliflower, so that about 5cm of the cauliflower’s head is exposed.
Fill a pan large enough to fit the cauliflower in salty water. Bring to a boil and carefully lower in the cauliflower exposed head down: don’t worry if the base sticks out a little. Bring back to a boil, cook for six minutes, then transfer the cauliflower to a colander, exposed head down. Set aside for 10 minutes, to drain and cool.
Heat the oven to 170C fan. 

 Make the tahini sauce and set aside.

 Mix the butter with the oil. Put the cauliflower stem side down in a medium baking tray and spread the butter mix all over the cauliflower. Sprinkle over sea salt, and roast for 1.5 – 2 hours, basting the cauliflower with the buttery juices five or six times during cooking. The cauliflower is done when it’s super-tender and a dark golden-brown, and the leaves are crisp and charred.
Remove from the oven and serve with the green tahini sauce (optional) and a little extra salt for sprinkling on top.
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.

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