Recipe from Joanne Weir
Adapted by Julia Moskin
- Total Time
- About 2 hours
- Rating
- 5(2,039)
- Notes
- Read community notes
This striking dish has become a modern classic, as chefs around the world are working out new ways to push vegetables into the center of the plate. It makes a lovely vegetarian main course after a pasta intro, or a gorgeous side dish for lamb or fish. Omit the anchovies in the sauce, and it becomes entirely vegetarian; replace the butter with more olive oil, and it turns vegan. Try using pale orange, green or purple cauliflower, or a head of spiky, psychedelic Romanesco. Carve it at the table, just like a roast, for maximum impact. —Julia Moskin
Featured in: How to Roast Cauliflower (the Whole Thing)
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Ingredients
Yield:2 main course servings, or 4 to 6 side dish servings
- 1large cauliflower
- Olive oil
- Salt
- ⅓cup blanched almonds
- 6 to 10anchovy fillets (optional)
- 2garlic cloves, peeled
- 2tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature (or use olive oil)
- ½cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for basting
- 2teaspoons wine vinegar (white or red), more to taste
- ½cup coarsely chopped parsley, mint, tarragon, cilantro or a combination
- ½ to 1teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
- Salt and ground black pepper
For the Cauliflower
For the Sauce
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (2 servings)
954 calories; 90 grams fat; 12 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 63 grams monounsaturated fat; 11 grams polyunsaturated fat; 28 grams carbohydrates; 11 grams dietary fiber; 9 grams sugars; 18 grams protein; 1277 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
Step
1
Heat the oven while you prepare the cauliflower: Place a heavy oven-proof skillet (a cast-iron skillet looks very nice) or a baking sheet in the oven and turn the heat to 375 degrees. Place a small pan of hot water on the floor of the oven, to create steam.
Step
2
Break off and discard the outer leaves from the cauliflower. Cut off the bottom of the stem, and then use the tip of a small, sharp knife to cut off the leaves close to the stem. Carefully cut out the hard core of the cauliflower, near the bottom. Leave the main stem intact and make sure not to cut through any of the florets.
Step
3
Rinse the cauliflower (leave the water clinging to the outside) and place on a work surface, core side up. Drizzle with olive oil and use your hands to rub over the cauliflower until evenly coated. Sprinkle with salt.
Step
4
Place the cauliflower on the hot pan in the oven, core side down, and cook until very tender all the way through when pierced with a knife, at least 1 hour or up to 2 hours. During the cooking, baste 2 or 3 times with more olive oil. It should brown nicely. If you have a convection feature, use it toward the end of baking to brown the crust.
Step
5
Make the sauce: In a small frying pan, toast nuts over low heat, shaking often, just until golden and fragrant. Set aside to cool.
Step
6
Soak anchovies, if using, for 5 minutes in cool water. Rinse and set aside on paper towels.
Step
7
In a food processor, combine almonds, anchovies, garlic and butter and pulse until smooth. Mix in oil, then vinegar. Mix in herbs and red pepper flakes, if using. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside.
Step
8
When cauliflower is tender, remove from the oven. (If desired, run it briefly under the broiler first to brown the surface; there is no need to do this if you used convection.)
Step
9
Serve cauliflower in the skillet or from a serving plate. Cut into wedges and spoon sauce around each wedge.
Ratings
5
out of 5
2,039
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Cooking Notes
Joan Canada
To cut calories but not flavour, I steam the head for about 15 minutes. Then I brush the head with olive oil - 2 table spoons is plenty. Then I roast the cauliflower in the oven until brown and nutty. Cooks faster and tastes great.
trish
That's a LOT of olive oil. I like the recipe from an old copy of Cooks Magazine: preheat oven to 425. cut cauliflower into wedges. lightly oil pan and lay cauliflower in it flat sides down. cover tightly with foil. Roast for 8-10 min. Turn so that other flat side of wedge is pan side down. recover and roast 8 min. take foil off, roast 8-10 more (can baste with small amount more olive oil). Cauliflower is moist, rich, browned all around. Much less oil. Easy. delicious
Experienced cook
The original recipe which calls for cooking the whole cauliflower including outer leaves and stem (head down) in boiling water for 15 min before roasting is by far less work.
Judith
Not a fan of extended cooking with olive oil for extended periods at high temperatures. Wonder about substituting avocado oil for the olive oil since it has the highest smoke point (when components of the oil start to oxidize) of common vegetable oils. Most olive oils have smoke points below 375 F. I use avocado for all high temperature cooking. If want olive oil flavor, use as small a quantity of avocado oil as is practical, then add olive oil right at the end to maintain its integrity.
Laurel
Slightly mashed capers work beautifully in the place of anchovies in Caesar salad dressing. Sharp and tangy. I imagine they'd do very well with the cauliflower.
LH
I love this dish, which I have made a number of times, as published and with a few variations of my own
Alas, I am forced to count calories. Here is how I lighten this up: I reduce the amount of oil in the sauce fairly dramatically and replace it with water as I emulsify the sauce with a hand blender. The emulsion does not break even after a couple of days in the fridge and reheating. My husband and I actually prefer the lightened version of the sauce, which remains intensely flavorful.
Dale
Also concerned with all the oil. (Why turn vegetable into fattening dish???) 1st brushed with oil olive, 2nd mid-way with balsamic vinegar. The 2nd hr of roasting may not be necessary but brought out the best in flavors. Also, while a whole roasted head of cauliflower does make a great impression the browned surfaces are the best tasting part of dish. Next time will quarter to allow more exposed surface area for browning. FYI, put Dijon mustard on reheated leftovers. Easy and tasty. Cheers
Diana Duke Duncan
In the actual NYT paper, this recipe and sauce (both of which are FABULOUS) mentioned several alternate sauces. Is it possible to add them to this on-line version?
Linda
The calorie count is correct! Goggling the calorie count of each ingredient:
Cauliflower 209
Almonds 273
Anchovies 84
Garlic 9
Butter 204
Olive oil 955
Vinegar 2
Parsley 11
Total 1,747
The total doesn't include the extra oil to rub over the cauliflower in Step 3, or the oil to baste with in Step 4.
ajp
This is an Absolute Best recipe I've cooked thanks to the NYTimes cooking site. I worked for Julia Child's French Cooking (at home) WGBH-TV early on and she would have "killed" for this recipe. Go for it and Bon Appetit.
Linda
Instead of raw garlic, I sautéed the sliced cloves over medium heat 'til caramelized, then added them to the mix in the processor. Glad that I did. Yummy!
Rachel
The whole head was impressive, and the silky texture of the interior was interesting, but I thought the flavor wasn't as good as simply tossing florets and stem pieces in olive oil, salt and pepper and roasting conventionally. The interior doesn't get seasoned with the whole roasting method. It took a long time as well. The sauce was delicious.
stephan
I found that adding the oil to the wet cauliflower created a bomb that coated the inside of my oven with oil.
Nosacredcow
Toss cauliflower florets in a mixture of red curry and coconut oil. Baking sheet at 375 till tender top with fresh grated parmesan and finish under broiler. Mmm.
Big Al the Big Vegetarian
I'm guess umami paste here would be miso paste. Capers have worked well for me with butter type dishes. Another option would be nutritional yeast, a longstanding vegan trick for getting things to taste cheesy, which is to say, umami-y.
Martha
5 stars for the sauce. After reading the other notes, I just roasted the cauliflower the normal way--broke up the florets, drizzled with olive oil, sprinkled on some salt and pepper, and baked about an hour at 450F until the florets were singed and crispy. But the sauce was so tasty and unique.
Marianne
Roasting the entire head of cauliflower this way creates a lovely presentation at the table- a bonus if it’s a special occasion. I bumped up the heat to 400 and used the convection setting for the last 20 minutes. A medium sized head of cauliflower took 70 minutes to cook. The core is firm and tasty, the florets are crunchy and nutty. The sauce is savory goodness, made it tonight with mint leaves and 1/2 teaspoon of dried tarragon ‘cause that’s what I had.
Jackie
How could you possibly make this sauce/salsa/pesto WITHOUT the anchovies? It is brilliant. If you don’t like anchovies...find another recipe.
Marianne
Hi Jackie, Try nutritional yeast or Kalamata olives instead of anchovies. They both add a savory flavor and richness. For what it’s worth, you don’t really taste the anchovies. They just add a richness and the saltiness to the dish. My partner hates anchovies and didn’t even notice that they were in there. It was so delicious, he wasn’t even annoyed with me that I didn’t tell him till we eat dinner.
SQ
The cauliflower was good but the sauce is amazing! Very unusual flavours. I made with almond butter, cilantro, and fewer anchovies. We brought it to a dinner party and before long everything was being dipped in it.
Elie
A 1 3/4 lb cauliflower head took 1 hr 20 min at 375.
cindy647
Made the sauce only. Was delicious. Modified to use olive oil and plain yogurt
Julie
Hmmm. I followed the advice of several commenters and steamed the whole head of cauliflower 15 minutes before roasting. It was already done by the time I put it in the oven to roast. I think I'll stick to my tried-and-true method of slicing it into 1" wedges and roasting. This method produces the same flavor in a lot less time.
PGD
Great sauce
John
60 to 70 min is plenty of time. I substituted Spanish ham for anchovies. I should have cooked the garlic a tad before putting in the sauce.
patricia
Use the Whold Roasted C. with Romesco instead. The sauce is divine -- use a jar of roasted red peppers from TJ's. Far less oil.
Sandra
Delicious, exactly as it is set forth in this recipe. Who cares about the olive oil if it is meant to be a vegetarian dinner (notwithstanding the anchovies). Yum!!!
Lorraine
Used Roasted almonds, cilantro.Liked anchovies but maybe a little less.
BunnyMomma
Made this as cauliflower steaks last weekend and we really liked it. Will make again. If your garlic has been stored a while, don't be alarmed if the vinegar turns it blue! Still edible :)
Sherry
I made this as part of Easter dinner. Sauce was delicious but sadly the cauliflower was way overcooked, even with the minimum cooking time. I'll make this again but shorten the cooking time significantly. Sauce would be delicious on almost anything!
Sourdough Gal
The pairing of the sauce with this roasted cauliflower is epic. We are not cauliflower freaks; we are anchovy skeptics. Stepping outside of our comfort zone was well rewarded. I didn’t have whole anchovies so I substituted a tablespoon of anchovy paste.
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