Roasted Cauliflower With Ras el Hanout

Name: Roasted Cauliflower With Ras el Hanout
Total time: 13 h 30 min
Yield: 4 Servings
Ingredients: 1 head cauliflower, washed, with leaves intact; 1 teaspoon salt, more for seasoning; 1/2 gallon whole milk or water; 1/3 cup clarified butter (see note); 4 teaspoons ras el hanout (see note); Salt, to taste

Recipe from Tomás Kalika

Adapted by Tejal Rao

Roasted Cauliflower With Ras el Hanout — Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times

Total Time: 1½ hours, plus cooling overnight
Rating: 4(218)
Comments: Read comments

The Argentine chef Tomás Kalika serves this delicious whole roasted cauliflower family-style at Mishiguene, his Buenos Aires restaurant Mr. Kalika adapted the idea from the chef Eyal Shani, whom he worked for in Israel, and who helped propel the whole roasted cauliflower to international fame. Poaching the cauliflower in advance ensures that it is tender and moist all the way through. You could easily substitute water for milk, particularly if the idea of discarding the milk bothers you. But Mr. Kalika says milk helps flavor the vegetable and encourage browning. (And the cauliflower-infused milk can be reused to make a béchamel sauce, for instance.) —Tejal Rao

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Ingredients

Yield:4 Servings

1head cauliflower, washed, with leaves intact
1teaspoon salt, more for seasoning
½gallon whole milk or water
⅓cup clarified butter (see note)
4teaspoons ras el hanout (see note)
Salt, to taste

Ingredient Substitution Guide

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Preparation

Step 1
Place the cauliflower in a large pot and add the salt and milk (or water) until it’s covered. Top up with water if necessary to completely cover the cauliflower. Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat to simmer gently until the cauliflower is very tender, about 45 minutes. When the pot is cool, transfer it to the refrigerator overnight.
Step 2
The next day, heat oven to 450 degrees. Drain the cauliflower well and dry the surface with paper towels. (If you used milk, discard or save for use in another recipe.) Place it on a large sheet of parchment paper on a sheet pan and drizzle the clarified butter all over the cauliflower, using your hands to make sure the surface is covered. Sprinkle the ras el hanout evenly over the surface and season generously with salt.
Step 3
Wrap the parchment paper around the base of the cauliflower, leaving only the white part exposed. Roast in the paper for 30 to 40 minutes, or until the surface is a deep golden brown. Serve hot.

Tips

To make your own clarified butter, melt 4 ounces unsalted butter in a saucepan and simmer gently until a froth forms on the surface. When froth thins out and starts to color on its edges, pour the clarified butter through a fine-meshed strainer.
To make ras el hanout, lightly toast 1 teaspoon cumin seeds and 1 teaspoon coriander seeds. Crush in a spice grinder with ½ teaspoon cinnamon powder, ½ teaspoon turmeric powder, ½ teaspoon paprika, ½ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon ginger powder and about 10 black peppercorns.

Ratings

4 out of 5

218 user ratings

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Comments

Naani-Daadi7 years ago

Indian version: Blanch cauliflower quickly. Cover with readymade Tandoori paste and yogurt mixture, Drzizlle with store-bought ghee. Bake in 450 degree oven until browned on top. Meanwhile, pop mustard seed in oil, Saute chopped onion garlic and ginger; turmeric, dried coriander, red chili powder, add a cupful of frozen peas and a can of diced tomatoes, simmer till peas are just cooked through, Serve cauliflower in a flat platter, surrounded by peas, sprinkled with a chopped fresh coriander.

ElizabethAMK7 years ago

much easier version: don't blanch whole cauliflower head. mix ras el hanout and salt with full fat greek yogurt or nonfat greek yogurt enriched with addition of olive oil. coat the raw cauliflower thickly with yogurt mixture. place on parchment paper and back 375 for 45-60 min until browned. nice additional is to sprinkle with gremolata

SharonATX7 years ago

We made this last night:
1) There's no way half a gallon of milk will fully cover the cauliflower in a large pot. We used 1/2 gallon of milk and a gallon of water.
2) 45 minutes was WAY too long for simmering! Try 30.
3) You do not need 1/3 cup of the butter. Try a 1/4.
4) The end result was good, but not great because while the exterior of the cauliflower was good, the rest of it was rather bland.
This recipe is a bit meshugah. Wouldn't make again.

Good But Also Easily Modified10 months ago

We made it per the recipe but roasted it in the barbecue oven rather than a conventional one. Next time we will cut it into flowerettes first, blanche them and then add the butter and spices and put in the barbecue oven again.

media literacy2 years ago

What notes?

bridget2 years ago

Only simmered for about 25 minutes- very mushy. Impossible to dry off, even after draining the liquid and leaving it out in the open in the fridge all day. Broiling to crisp it helped a bit.

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