Roast Cauliflower with Yoghurt and Spicy Red Pepper Sauce
Side
Ingredients
1 large cauliflower (1kg) leaves and base trimmed, then cut into 8 x 4cm-thick wedges (800g net)
75 ml olive oil
Salt and black pepper
1 onion peeled, halved and cut into ½cm-thick slices
1 tablespoon coriander seeds lightly toasted and roughly crushed in a mortar
1 teaspoon caraway seeds lightly toasted and roughly crushed in a mortar
1 1/2 teaspoon sumac
25 g mint leaves roughly chopped, plus 1 handful extra, to serve
30 g pine nuts toasted
For the yoghurt sauce
300 g Greek-style yoghurt
1 garlic clove peeled and crushed
2 tablespoons lemon juice (from 1-2 lemons)
For the red pepper sauce
70 ml olive oil
2 tablespoons mild Turkish pepper paste (or tomato paste)
1 tablespoon aleppo chilli plus extra to serve (or 1½ tbsp if using tomato paste)
Description
Red pepper paste is essential to Turkish cuisine, and regularly puts in an appearance in dolmas, bulgur dishes and all sorts of dips. You can buy it in most Middle Eastern shops or online, but don’t worry if you can’t find any: use tomato paste mixed with a little extra aleppo chilli instead.
Yotam Ottolenghi recipe
Prep 45 min
Cook 30 min
Directions
Heat the oven to 240C (220C fan)/475F/gas 9. In a large bowl, toss the cauliflower with three tablespoons of oil and a half-teaspoon of salt, then spread out on a large oven tray lined with greaseproof paper.
Roast for 22-25 minutes, until lightly charred but still with a bite. Transfer to a large bowl and leave to cool.
Meanwhile, put the remaining two tablespoons of oil in a medium saute pan on a medium heat. Once hot, add the onion and an eighth of a teaspoon of salt and cook, stirring occasionally, for 15-18 minutes, until soft and browned. Tip the onions into the cauliflower bowl and wipe clean the pan.
Put the oil for the pepper sauce in a saute pan on a medium-high heat and, once hot, add the pepper paste and aleppo chilli and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds.
Take off the heat, stir in a pinch of salt and a good grind of pepper, and transfer to a medium heatproof bowl.
For the yoghurt sauce, mix the yoghurt, garlic, a tablespoon of lemon juice, a quarter-teaspoon of salt and a good grind of black pepper in a medium bowl and set aside.
Stir the coriander, caraway, sumac, mint, half the pine nuts, the remaining tablespoon of lemon juice and a good grind of pepper into the cauliflower bowl.
To serve, spread the yoghurt sauce over a shallow platter and arrange the cauliflower mixture on top.
Spoon over half the red pepper sauce, then top with the extra mint leaves and the remaining pine nuts. Serve with the rest of the pepper sauce in a bowl alongside.