Festive Season 2021: Roasted Cauliflower with Green Chermoula Dressing

This is an all time favourite of mine and it will not disappoint on your Christmas table this year. Hands down this has been my favourite way to serve cauliflower this year. It looks impressive too.

What’s great about this Roasted Cauliflower is that it can be served hot or cold, making it perfect for either a white or sunny Christmas. It’s a perfect complement to roast turkey, pork, beef, chicken or any other meal on the table.

You’ll be sure to get asked for the recipe. I’m already handing it out to friends and family as I’ve served it a number of times this year.

Ingredients

• 1 whole cauliflower

• 3 tablespoons olive oil

• ½ teaspoon ground cumin

• 1 crushed garlic clove

• ¾ cup of houmous

Chermoula Ingredients

• 3/4 teaspoon ground coriander

• 2 garlic cloves

• 3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

• 1/4 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

• 3/4 teaspoon salt

• 1 cup coriander leaves (packed)

• 1 cup parsley leaves (packed)

• 1/2 cup mint leaves (packed)

Hummus Ingredients

• 1 ½ cups cooked chickpeas

• ½ teaspoon baking soda (if you’re using canned chickpeas)

• ¼ cup lemon juice (from 1 ½ to 2 lemons), more to taste

• 1 medium-to-large clove garlic, roughly chopped

• ½ teaspoon fine sea salt, to taste

• ½ cup tahini

• 2 to 4 tablespoons ice water, more as needed

• ½ teaspoon ground cumin

• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

Method

• Put oven rack in the middle position and preheat oven to 220°C.

• Lightly oil a baking dish that will fit the cauliflower. Trim off the outer cauliflower leaves. Cut away the base of the stalk so the cauliflower can sit flat.

• Drizzle 2 tbsp olive oil over the top of cauliflower and sprinkle with ground cumin and 1/2 tsp salt.

• Bake cauliflower until tender, about one hour (depending on size). Check by piercing the cauliflower with a paring knife, which should go through easily. Transfer to a serving dish.

• Whilst cooking, start making the chermoula and hummus.

• Purée ground coriander, garlic, oil, lemon zest, lemon juice, and salt in a blender until spices are ground and the mixture is very smooth.

• Add coriander (cilantro), parsley, and mint; process until well combined but slightly textured.

• To make the hummus combine the lemon juice, garlic, and salt in a food processor or high-powered blender.  Process until the garlic is very finely chopped, then let the mixture rest so the garlic flavour can mellow, ideally 10 minutes or longer.

• Add the tahini to the food processor and blend until the mixture is thick and creamy, stopping to scrape down any tahini stuck to the sides and bottom of the processor as necessary.

• While running the food processor, drizzle in 2 tablespoons of ice water. Scrape down the food processor, and blend until the mixture is ultra-smooth, pale, and creamy. (add 1 to 2 tablespoons more ice water if it looks too thick)

• Once the cauliflower is cooked, take it out of the oven and let it rest to cool down a little (maybe 5-10 minutes).

• Spread ¾ - 1 cup of houmous on a circular plate and then place the cauliflower in the centre.

• Pour the chermoula over the top and serve.

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