A Frivolous Cauliflower

An immodest Ottolenghi-inspired vegetable dish with style and substance.

This week on Fare Well Friday: one of “my” most-requested vegetable dishes, which in an odd roundabout way has become mine.

Since encountering a Yotam Ottolenghi-inspired whole roasted cauliflower years ago, somewhere in the wilds of the internet, I’ve served the dish dozens of times - for family at the holidays, on a weeknight, for retreat guests. Every time, it’s a showstopper - and every time, my diners request the recipe. I finally went searching for the original and, although I found many variations on the theme, I turned up nothing that really resembles what’s now my standard version. So I suppose the recipe I present below is “mine” now, as inevitably happens when food preparations are handed down and along.

I love this cauliflower because it does such a glorious job of showcasing one of the most humble vegetables. Poor cauliflower gets made into “rice” and “pizza crust” and “mashed potatoes” and “buffalo wings”, but rarely gets its own moment in the sun. This presentation change…