In my mind, cauliflower never ranked on the culinary wheel. There were more interesting vegetables to eat and cook. It wasn’t until I was on one of my frequent Napa Valley trips and dined at Ubuntu that I discovered how delicious cauliflower could be. At that time, Chef Jeremy Fox created a dish that put the white veggie back on the map called “Cauliflower in a Cast Iron Pot“. It was an amazing, comfort food concoction that was fairly complicated. Fox actually won “Food & Wine Magazine’s Best New Chef” for some of his outstanding and unusual vegetable recipes but the cauliflower was his signature dish.
Then a couple of years ago, I started roasting the vegetable along with zucchini, broccoli, and onions but I always picked out the cauliflower first and put it on a separate plate. Sprinkling pink salt and cracked pepper on top of it, I devoured the entire head of cauliflower by myself. There is a sweet, nuttiness that roasted cauliflower imparts and combine that with maybe some dried fruit or turmeric. It’s a yummy invention.
I wish there was something more profound to be said about roasting cauliflower other than it’s simple, delicious eating. Supposedly, it will be a trend in New York City restaurants as reported by New York Times food columnist Ligaya Mishan with far more complicated cooking techniques.
On one of my recipe reading binges, I journeyed across an amazing recipe developed by the late Marcella Hazan in a cookbook called “Great Food Without Fuss“, edited by Frances McCullough and Barbara Witt. By blanching the cauliflower and pairing it up with pine nuts, raisins and an Italian hard cheese, it because a meal unto itself and is incredibly simple. I reworked the recipe with roasting the cauliflower.
I said to Nick, “Who knew cauliflower was this delicious?”
Nick replied, “I didn’t but I do now.”
For me, as always, simple is best.
What you will need:
1 cauliflower head, trimmed of leaves and sliced like steaks. Don’t throw away the ends, just break them apart. You could also cut them into florets, whichever you prefer. I like the steak….it’s prettier. 😉
1/ 4 olive oil.
Handful of raisins…depending on your taste. (Soak these for about 20 minutes).
Handful of walnuts or pine nuts.
About 2 tbsp of chopped parsley. (It’s a garnish…completely optional.)
Hard Italian Cheese. Reggiano, Parmesan. Asiago. Your preference.
Salt and pepper.
Let’s make this puppy:
1. In a large bowl, place cauliflower, nuts and olive oil. Mix until coated well.
2. Throw onto a baking sheet and spread it out. Place into a preheated oven at 375 degrees.
3. Roast for about 20 minutes and taste a tiny bit. It should be tender. If not, give it another 5 to 10 minutes.
4. Once vegetable is lightly brown with nuts toasted, put onto a bowl or on a plate. Shave cheese to your liking and toss with parsley. Trust me as you may only eat this for the rest of your life.
