Make your favourite vegetable a part of your roasting repertoire. This recipe is inspired by the wood-roasted cauliflower at Sydney's Ester restaurant. We've lathered ours with wakame butter and toasted breadcrumbs laced with pancetta - it's a delicious combination.
Roasted whole cauliflower with wakame butter and toasted crumbs
It's salty and buttery in all the right places.
- 30 mins preparation
- 35 mins cooking plus soaking
- Serves 6
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Ingredients
- 1 cauliflower (800gm)
- 50 gm mild pancetta, finely diced
- 2 tsp grapeseed oil
- 20 gm (1 tbsp) butter
- 70 gm coarse breadcrumbs from day-old spelt or rye sourdough (see note)
- To serve: lemon wedges
Wakame butter
- 30 gm wakame (see note)
- 150 gm butter, softened
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
Method
Main
- 1For wakame butter, rehydrate wakame in a bowl of cold water (10-15 minutes). Drain and squeeze excess water from wakame, then finely chop, transfer to a food processor with butter and garlic, and process until smooth. Refrigerate until required.
- 2Preheat oven to 220C. Steam cauliflower in a large steamer over a saucepan of simmering water until a knife can just be pierced through without too much resistance (6-8 minutes). Transfer to a roasting pan, spread a quarter of the wakame butter over and roast until golden brown and tender (20-25 minutes).
- 3Meanwhile, fry pancetta in oil in a non-stick frying pan over medium-high heat until golden (2-4 minutes). Add butter to pan, then add breadcrumbs and stir until toasted (2-4 minutes). Season to taste.
- 4Spread remaining wakame butter over the cauliflower, scatter with pancetta and crumbs and serve with lemon wedges.
Notes
Note If your bread is fresh, dry it out first in a low-temperature oven. Dried wakame is available from delicatessens and Asian grocers.
Drink Suggestion: Amber-hued skin-contact white. Drink suggestion by Max Allen
