The flavour of roasted cauliflower is a favourite of ours at Bar Lourinhã, and this dish has been a constant on the menu for many years. Wood-fired ovens can add a smoky dimension to roasted cauliflower, but with the addition of plenty of spices, a standard home oven will create a great result. Select the smallest, whitest and freshest cauliflowers you can find.
Bar Lourinhã’s roast cauliflower with yoghurt and pine nuts, by Matt McConnell
Serves 4–6
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 30–35 minutes
Ingredients
125g (½ cup) plain yoghurt
1 tbsp buttermilk
Sea salt
115g (¾ cup) pine nuts
2½ tbsp nigella seeds
Dash of extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
2 small heads cauliflower, about 15cm in diameter
125ml (½ cup) olive oil
2 tbsp fennel seeds, ground using a mortar and pestle
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 tsp red Aleppo pepper
1 tsp urfa biber (sometimes sold as Turkish chilli flakes)
Handful of purslane leaves
Method
Combine the yoghurt, buttermilk and a pinch of salt in a bowl and set aside at room temperature for 1 hour, until the yoghurt becomes silky.
Preheat the oven to 250°C and line a large baking tray with baking paper.
Dry-toast the pine nuts and 2 tsp of the nigella seeds in a small frying pan over medium heat until nice and golden (pine nuts burn more quickly than other nuts so don’t walk away from the pan!). Transfer to a bowl and, while still hot, add a dash of extra-virgin olive oil and a large pinch of salt. Mix well and set aside.
Trim the outer leaves off the cauliflowers and turn them upside down. Slice each cauliflower into quarters by cutting through the round core at the bottom. Place the cauliflower on the prepared tray, then pour over the olive oil and season evenly with the ground fennel seed, remaining nigella seeds, 2 tsp of salt and the black pepper. Transfer to the oven and roast for 25–30 minutes, until the cauliflower is golden and the core has softened.
You can either serve the cauliflower piping hot from the oven or at room temperature.
Spoon the yoghurt sauce onto a serving plate and place the cauliflower on top. Sprinkle over the pine nut mixture, Aleppo pepper, urfa biber and purslane leaves. Finish with a generous dousing of top-quality extra-virgin olive oil.
This is an extract from the Broadsheet cookbook Home Made, which features 80 diverse recipes for home cooking, sourced from Melbourne's best cooks, chefs and restaurants. Published by Plum, the book is available for $49.95 at shop.broadsheet.com.au
Looking for more cauli inspiration? Check out Broadsheet's cauliflower recipe collection.
