Pepper-Roasted Cauliflower
TIME/SERVINGS
Total: 1 hr 5 mins
Active: 5 mins
Makes: 8 to 10 servings as an hors d'oeuvre (8 to 9 cups)
By Aida Mollenkamp
Cauliflower is one of those vegetables that go from ho-hum to stellar once roasted. The addition of soy sauce and pepper makes for a tasty salty-peppery-sweet snack.
This recipe was featured as part of our Spicy Holiday Cocktail Party menu.
- 16 cups cauliflower, cut into small, even-size florets (from 2 large heads)
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
- 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
- Heat the oven to 450°F and arrange a rack in the middle. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and toss to coat. Allow to marinate for 20 minutes, tossing cauliflower occasionally.
- Arrange 1/2 of the cauliflower in a single layer on a baking sheet. Roast until tender and slightly blackened, about 20 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and repeat with remaining cauliflower. Serve hot or at room temperature.
Beverage pairing: Tablas Creek Esprit de Beaucastel Blanc, California. Cauliflower has a nice blend of sweet and bitter, and here it’s accented by the lift of pepper and the umami of soy sauce. It deserves a complex wine, and this white is one of the most complex and delicious California delivers. A blend of white Rhône grapes, the unoaked wine merges honeyed notes of tropical fruits with a slightly bitter floral flavor, all held together by a stirring minerality.
COMMENTS | ADD YOUR OWN
Surprisingly, it's great. We substituted Splenda for the sugar.
the entire recipe only contains 2 teaspoons of sugar...unless you have severe insulin/blood sugar issues, why would you want to use chemicals in place of such an insignificant amount?
Really tasty! I did it at 425 convection, and it was done in under 15 minutes.
Hmmm. Wondering about subbing balsamic vinegar for the soy sauce and olive oil for the vegetable oil. Thoughts?
Have done cauliflower with balsamic and parm. cheese, roast till almost done and add them both at the end, delicious!
I'm going to do this as an appetizer...I'm gonna figure out a good dipping sauce... I think I'll keep it to the Asian theme... This'll be fun...
Replace the soy and (potentially the) sugar with some really good mustard with seeds intact. Something about mustard and cauliflower.....
CRT- I do something similar with garlic infused olive oil, sea salt and roughly cracked black pepper at 400 degrees - delicious!
I like it with thin slices going across most of the head... like this recipe:
http://recipes.egullet.org/recipes/r1...
The recipe calls for more olive oil than is really needed. I generally don't like cauliflower that much (unless it's prepared really well, or unless it's a really tasty variety of cauliflower), but this recipe is amazing.
I've always been bizarrely in love with cauliflower, even the raw florets, even as a young child. It's amazing to me how many people profess to dislike it, though recipies like this will probably make it go down easier.
I've always been bizarrely in love with cauliflower, even the raw florets, even as a young child. It's amazing to me how many people profess to dislike it, though recipies like this will probably make it go down easier.
Soy and cauliflower sounds lovely. But I don't understand the need for sugar. Given the right main ingredient (I like broccoflower), you won't even need a sweetener. Roasting the veg. with some garlic, olive oil and salt and pepper brings out its own sweetness. On the other hand, balsamic vinegar would work very nicely as a sugar substitute in the tangy/sweet category.
i agree that roasting magically transforms cauliflower. i'm inspired by all these variations!
I love cauliflower, but it can be a bit bland in many iterations. This one is definitely a keeper!!!
Try roasting, then mashing as a substitute for mashed potatoes. yummy. I could eat roasted cauliflower like candy!
Have you ever tried putting a dressing on these cauliflowers? I have put some yogurt(90%) mixed with mayonnaise(10%) on it, that was really delicious!!
You should blend yogurt with mayonnaise, until they become smooth, this is the key point...
sprinkle some coarse breadcrumbs (Panko or Italian) and a little cayenne and a chopped hard cooked egg. (along with a little salt and olive oil) The slight sulfur from the egg just brings out the taste of the cauliflower in a very special way.
The sugar has to be for caramelization, not flavor!
Very simple and the flavors blended wonderfully. I can imagine that anyone one of the variations mentioned here would work very well.
I made it per the recipe. It was very nice. My head of cauliflower was sort of small, so I was able to share the silpat with a few filets of salmon that I rubbed with soy, pepper and evoo. Saved another pan!
sorry CHOW, i love you but i felt this was too weak for my spice-seeking taste buds. What i did is alter the recipe using Lee Kum Kee Black Pepper Sauce and you get a marvelously intense asian peppercorn heat and lots more flavor. Thanks CHOW for the inspiration!
SPICY BLACK PEPPER ROASTED CAULIFLOWER
1 head cauliflower, chopped into florets
olive oil
3-4 tablespoons of Lee Kum Kee Black Pepper Sauce (found in most aisles for Asian foods in the grocery store)
chopped cilantro for garnish
1>preheat over to 350 degrees.
2>Dilute black pepper sauce with a good splash of olive oil (or water, if you're counting calories) so it's more runny instead of thick. Toss with Cauliflower in a bowl until evenly coated.
3>Roast 40 minutes or until desired texture.
4> toss with freshly chopped cilantro.
Quick and easy recipe and great way for a bachelor to cook up and eat his cauliflower! Thanks for the recipe