Nutty Baked Cauliflower with Courgettes and Pangrattato.
Ingredients
- 4 cloves of garlic (we used confit garlic)
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- ½ a bunch of fresh thyme
- 1 lemon
- 1 large cauliflower
- 4 tablespoons dry vermouth
- 1 x 400g tin of tomatoes
- 40g chopped walnuts
- A bunch of flat-leaf parsley
- Extra virgin olive oil
- 2 sliced courgettes
- Handful of grated Gruyère (or a good vegan cheese for a plant-based alternative)
- Stale bread for breadcrumbs
Method
- Preheat the oven to 180ºC
- Add the garlic to a pestle and mortar with the paprika and half the thyme leaves. Bash well to a rough paste, then muddle in 2 tablespoons of olive oil and season.
- Zest the lemon into a separate bowl and set aside.
- Trim the outer cauliflower leaves. Trim the stalk so the cauliflower can sit flat, then cut a cross into the base.
- Place in a large casserole dish, and rub the paprika paste all over the cauliflower. Drizzle over the vermouth and squeeze the lemon juice on top.
- Cover and pop in the hot oven for around 1 hour.
- Meanwhile, toast the walnuts in a dry frying pan over a medium-low heat then leave to cool.
- Griddle the sliced courgettes in a pan.
- Whizz some stale bread (we used sourdough) with half of the walnuts and some parsley in a food processor to make the Pangrattato.
- After an hour, remove the dish from the oven, pour the tomatoes around the cauliflower, place the courgette slices on the tomatoes, cover with Pangrattato and grated cheese, and sprinkle over the lemon zest and remaining thyme leaves.
- Return the dish uncovered to the oven for a further 20 minutes, or until the cauliflower is tender and golden, and the Pangrattato is crunchy.
- Once ready, take the pan out of the oven. Scrunch over the remaining walnuts , and scatter the parsley leaves on top.
- Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil, then carve up and serve.
