Whole Baked Romanesco Cauliflower
An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 40-90 minutes
- 1 small romanesco cauliflower (or regular cauliflower)
- 80ml/3flozs. oil
- 150g/5ozs. labne
- 60g/2ozs. tahini
- 50g/1.7ozs. mayonnaise
- 5 dried apricots, chopped
- 1 tablespoon apricot jam
- 1.5 teaspoons curry powder
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Small handful of mint, coriander and chives
Step 1 - Preheat oven to 180C/350F and trim the base of the romanesco and cut out as much of the central woody core while keeping it whole (I leave the leaves on). Wash well. Brush with half of the oil and place in a bowl and add 1/4 cup of water and microwave for 10 minutes (this is just to speed up softening it). Brush with the remaining oil and roast on a parchment lined tray for 20-30 minutes or until a knife can slip in to the base. If you don't want to microwave it roast it for 1 1/4 to 1.5 hours (more if your romanesco is very large). Season with salt and pepper.
Step 2 - Process the labne, tahini, mayonnaise, apricots, apricot jam and curry powder and season with salt and pepper to taste. Spread some of this mixture on a serving plate and place cauliflower on top. Add herbs on top of the labne and serve with a sharp knife.