Roasted cauliflower is always delicious and this whole roasted cauliflower with tangy Romesco sauce is perfection! Break off pieces of the golden, sweet cauliflower and dip them in the lightly smokey piquant sauce. You’ll devour the entire head of cauliflower in one sitting! Trust me, it’s easy to do.
Romesco is a Spanish sauce made with red peppers and tomatoes, bread, almonds, paprika and other ingredients. There are many variations. In this version, I left out the bread and toned down the smoky flavor a little. Instead of traditional charred tomatoes, I substitute sun-dried tomatoes. The flavor is outstanding.
I’ve tried roasting whole heads of cauliflower with varying degrees of success. Credit for the easy technique in this recipe goes to Yotam Ottolenghi, who describes it in his cookbook Simple. While you still need a fair amount of roasting time (an hour and a half), the blanching step reduces the roasting time and ensures that the cauliflower is cooked through.
Once you have perfected roasting a head of cauliflower and, after you have thoroughly enjoyed it with this Romesco sauce, the possibilities for sauces are endless. Ottolenghi’s green tahini sauce, spicy chickpea sauce, garlicky yogurt, herbed brown butter, etc.
The recipe calls for roasting two heads of cauliflower. You can roast just one and use your leftover Romesco sauce for vegetables, fish or chicken. Or use it as a dip for fresh vegetables.
Tips
- If you don’t have sherry vinegar, you can substitute an equal amount of red wine vinegar.
- If you love things very smoky, use more smoked paprika and less sweet paprika.
- You can substitute a 16-ounce jar of roasted red peppers (well drained) instead of roasting your own.
- I don’t think that you need to remove the skins of the roasted peppers, because they are not noticeable when pureed. However, if you prefer to do so, peel the skins from the roasted peppers after they have cooled.
Ingredients
You’ll need the following ingredients to make this roasted cauliflower with Romesco sauce.
Cauliflower Ingredients
- 2 large heads of cauliflower, stems trimmed flush with the bottom of the cauliflower
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- Kosher salt, about 2 teaspoons
- Fresh ground pepper, about a teaspoon
Romesco Sauce Ingredients
- 3 red peppers, seeds and stems removed, cut into 4 or 5 vertical slices per pepper
- 1/2 cup olive oil, plus 1 tablespoon to dress peppers for roasting
- 1/4 cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes
- 1/2 cup roasted, unsalted almonds
- 2 large garlic cloves, peeled and quartered
- 1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 3/4 teaspoon sweet paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- Kosher salt to taste
Directions
Roast Peppers for the Romesco Sauce
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Brush a large baking pan with olive oil. Spread out the pepper slices in the pan and brush them with more oil. Roast the peppers for about 20 minutes, turning them over halfway through the roasting. You don’t want them extremely charred. Set them aside to cool.
Prepare the Cauliflower
Put an oven rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
While the oven is heating, blanch the cauliflower on the stovetop. Locate a covered pan deep enough to hold the cauliflower. Fill the pan with enough water to cover most of the cauliflower. It doesn’t have to be fully covered. Bring the water to a boil.
If there are leaves that cover the head of the cauliflower, trim them back, but you don’t have to remove the rest of the leaves.
When the water is boiling, add the cauliflower, top side down, into the water. Cover the pan and cook the cauliflower for 6 minutes.
Using large slotted spoons, carefully remove the cauliflower from the pot and rest it in a colander, stem side up, to drain for 10 minutes. Cook your other cauliflower and drain it.
Place the cauliflowers, stem side down, on a large baking sheet. Rub the olive oil over them. Generously salt and pepper them.
Roast the cauliflowers for about 1 1/2 hours. They should be deep golden brown and a little crispy on the edges. Remove them from the oven.
Romesco Sauce Directions
While the cauliflowers are roasting, make the Romesco sauce.
Add the sun-dried tomatoes, almonds, garlic, sherry vinegar, paprika, cayenne pepper and roasted red peppers to a food processor. Process them until smooth. Add about 1/3 cup of the olive oil and process until it is blended. If it is extremely thick, add the rest of the olive oil. Add some salt and process it in. Scoop the sauce into a bowl.
Serve Your Cauliflower
Serve the cauliflower whole on a platter. You can cut wedges for individual servings. You can also just pull pieces off of the cauliflower if you’re comfortable with that. Serve with Romesco sauce on the side.
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