The first thing I noticed when I walked into North Abraxas in Tel Aviv was an entire cupboard filled with whole roasted cauliflowers resting on parchment paper. It was an unexpected decoration, even though a friend who visited Chef Eyal Shani’s restaurant in Paris forewarned me that he was big time into cauliflower. I am a huge fan of cauliflower but have only had it cut up into florets or as a baby. Here, they were the size of volleyballs. This was the most audacious display of cauliflower I had ever seen. And they were delicious. At Pizzeria Mozza, I have included the cauliflower in our new roasted vegetable program. This is how we serve it there.
Nancy’s Whole Roasted Cauliflower with Za’atar and Mint Yogurt Sauce
- Cooking and Prep: 35 m
- Serves: 6
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Contains:
Ingredients (11)
Cauliflower
Mint Yogurt Sauce
Start Cooking
Prepare the Cauliflower
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Preheat the oven to its highest setting, usually 450–500 degrees Fahrenheit (230–260 degrees Celsius). Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil.
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Add the cauliflowers and blanch for six minutes.
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Meanwhile, prepare a large bowl of ice water. Remove cauliflowers from the boiling water and submerge them in ice water to stop the cooking process.
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When cauliflowers are cool, remove from the ice water and pat dry with paper towels.
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Set on baking sheets or in a baking pan and massage generously with olive oil, making sure that the oil seeps into all the crevices of the cauliflowers, especially the centers.
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Roast cauliflowers until they are browned, rotating the pan for even browning, 15 to 20 minutes.
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Sprinkle the cauliflowers with za’atar.
Prepare the Mint Yogurt Sauce
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Place the yogurt in a bowl.
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Add the oil, lemon juice, garlic, and salt and stir well. Using a spatula, fold in the mint. Season with pepper.
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Serve cauliflowers whole with yogurt sauce.
Credits
Photograph by Steven Rothfeld from Israel Eats, reprinted by permission of Gibbs Smith.
