Thursday 2 February 2012

Roasted Cauliflower & Squash with Spiced Bulgur


Cauliflower is one of those vegetables that has always failed to inspire me. I'm not talking about the fractal beauty that is the romanesco cauliflower, but the common or garden white variety. In my kitchen they usually find their way into cauliflower cheese or curry (there's something about cauliflower and spices that works so well), but overrun with them as I was just before Christmas I decided to try something new.


I've fancied Denis Cotter's recipe for cauliflower with green peppercorns for a while, but a lack of green peppercorns in my cupboards put paid to that plan! Here I was looking at a rather large cauliflower that really was ready for eating and to be honest there wasn't a fat lot else in the fridge. Aren't the best recipes always the ones that come out of nothing?

You could add some cooked chickpeas to the squash and cauliflower 10 minutes before the end of the cooking time to make this a more nutritionally balanced vegetarian dish.

Ingredients

1 small cauliflower
1/4 of a crown prince squash or 1 small butternut squash
1/2 to 1 red chilli (sliced)
3 cloves garlic (peeled and left whole)
2 tbsp olive oil
salt & pepper

For the spiced bulgur:

1 tbsp olive oil
6 cardamom pods
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 whole cloves
150g bulgur wheat
350ml water (approx)
salt & pepper
1 tbsp toasted nibbed almonds

For the caramelised onions:

2 tbsp olive oil
2 onions (sliced)
1 tsp soft brown sugar
1 tsp good sherry vinegar
salt & pepper

Method

Preheat your oven to 190 C.

Peel the squash, remove the seeds and cut the flesh into thick slices. Remove the outer leaves of the cauliflower, wash the cauliflower and then cut into thick slices (rather than breaking it into florets). Put the squash and cauliflower into a roasting tin with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, the red chilli and whole cloves of garlic. Season generously with salt and pepper. Put into the oven for around 40 minutes until the cauliflower and squash are tender and beginning to crisp and brown at the edges.  Remove the garlic cloves.

In the meantime prepare the spiced bulgur and caramelised onions.

For the spiced bulgur, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a small pan (which has a tight fitting lid) over a medium heat. Add the cumin seeds and cook for a minute stirring often, then add the cardamom and cloves. Stir in the bulgur and reduce the heat. Continue to stir over a low heat until the bulgur has turned from a golden to a nutty brown (without letting it catch or burn). Season and add the water. Bring to the boil, stir, put the lid on the pan and immediately reduce the heat to very low. Cook for approximately 15-20 minutes until the bulgur is tender but still with a little bite.  Fluff the bulgur with a fork, remove the whole spices and then stir through the toasted almonds just before serving.

For the caramelised onions, put the oil and onions into a heavy based pan over a low heat. Cook the onions very slowly, stirring often, until they begin to turn golden brown (this will take around 30-40 minutes) and then add the sugar and season with salt and pepper. Cook for around another 5 minutes. Add the vinegar and cook until the liquid has disappeared. The onions should now be caramelised and a rich brown colour.

Serve the roasted squash and cauliflower on top of the spiced bulgur and finish with a spoonful of the caramelised onions.

8 comments:

  1. looks delicious thanks for sharing :)

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  2. Oh this sounds lovely. I was recently looking for a recipe to use up a large cauliflower, and made cauliflower steaks, adapted from Epicurious: thickly sliced cauliflower fried and then roasted (not sure why both these cooking processes were required, but I guess it intensifies the flavours), topped with sun-dried tomato and black olive relish and roasted tomato and garlic sauce. I served it with couscous sautéed with spinach. It was delicious. I'll try your recipe next!

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  3. Recipe looks delicious. I still havn't made this but have bought the cauliflower. Must make it this week. Will let you know how it goes.

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  4. I love how nutty cauliflower gets when you roast it. I love it with cumin and coriander and a rinsed tin of chickpeas in there for extra fun.

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  5. I must be weird then, because I actually really like cauliflower. I know a lot of people don't. like tori, one of my favourite ways is to roast cauliflower, and funnily with just those spices too! though, I would be happy even with boiled cauliflower..your recipe looks yum, definitely keeping in mind for a meatless supper!

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  6. It's amazing how some people are able to create a very beautiful and delicious meal, out of something like the cauliflower (i have always ignored it, but this makes me think otherwise! :) well done!

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  7. Denis Cotter is a genius, but where do you get green peppercorns from?! Love the look of this recipe, will definitely give it a go :-)

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  8. Ooh this sounds and looks seriously tasty, I only found out you could roast a cauliflower yesterday and the I come across your recipe too:-) I love you blog and am going to follow you on Twitter now!

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