Whole Roasted Cauliflower With Almond-Herb Sauce

Name: Whole Roasted Cauliflower With Almond-Herb Sauce
Total time: 2 h
Yield: 2 main course servings, or 4 to 6 side dish servings
Ingredients: 1 large cauliflower; Olive oil; Salt; 1/3 cup blanched almonds; 6 to 10 anchovy fillets (optional); 2 garlic cloves, peeled; 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature (or use olive oil); 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for basting; 2 teaspoons wine vinegar (white or red), more to taste; 1/2 cup coarsely chopped parsley, mint, tarragon, cilantro or a combination; 1/2 to 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional); Salt and ground black pepper

Recipe from Joanne Weir

Adapted by Julia Moskin

Updated Sept. 15, 2020

Whole Roasted Cauliflower With Almond-Herb Sauce — John Kernick for The New York Times NPX NYTCREDIT: John Kernick for The New York Times

Total Time: About 2 hours
Rating: 5(2,153)
Comments: Read comments

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

For the Cauliflower

1large cauliflower
Olive oil
Salt

For the Sauce

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

Ingredient Substitution Guide

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Preparation

Make the recipe with us

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

2,153 user ratings

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Comments

Joan Canada7 years ago

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.

trish7 years ago

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 cook7 years ago

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.

KGansky2 months ago

We made this recipe exactly as written and it was delicious. The only thing we would say is that the garlic in the sauce, when added raw, makes for a very strong garlic flavor, but could be toned down. Otherwise, it was stunning right out of the oven and cooked perfectly.

Lisa Hughes5 months ago

Re the sauce: Hate anchovies? We used 2 tsp of miso and it did the trick and came out great.

Lisa5 months ago

Surprised that others liked this recipe so much. Maybe I did something wrong? The final result was a nice crust over something one step from mush. Wanted to love it but wouldn’t do it again.

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