Ottolenghi's Cauliflower Roasted in Chilli Butter Recipe

Taken from Yotam Ottolenghi's newest book 'Flavour' with some tiny tweeks. Ottolenghi needs no introduction being one of the spiciest chef's on the block at the moment having inspired many people to experiment with new ingredients. This is a beautiful recipe and packs a well balanced explosive punch with it's chilli butter.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1rSYX-bVy4&t=323s - our video guide.

Serves: 4

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 60 minutes

Difficulty: Medium

Spices Used: Urfa Chilli Flakes, Aleppo Chilli Flakes, Rose Harissa (One Thousand and One Nights Chest), Sweet Paprika (Paprika Dulce) Cayenne Pepper (Gunpowder Chest).

Follow us for more recipes! https://www.instagram.com/gunpowder_spices/

Ingredients:

2 large whole cauliflowers

2 onions peeled and cut into eighth's

8 red chillis whole with a vertical slit cut into them

1 lemon cut into wedges to serve

For the Chilli Butter:

120 g unsalted butter

110 ml olive oil

1 1/2 tsp Paprika Dulce.

1/2 tsp Cayenne Pepper

2 1/2 tsp tomato paste

1 1/4 tsp Urfa chilli flakes

2 tbsp Webley's Rose Harissa Blend

1/4 tsp Aleppo Chilli Flakes

3 garlic cloves

1 1/2 tsp caster sugar

Recipe:

Trim the leaves at the top of each cauliflower, so that about 5cm of the actual cauliflower is exposed. Cut both cauliflowers into the quarters lengthways, making sure the leaves remain attached at the base. Chop your onions into eighth's.

Heat the oven to 180℃ Fill a large pan (large enough to fit all the cauliflower quarters in) with well-salted water and bring to the boil. Once boiling, blanch the cauliflower quarters for 2 minutes, weighing them down with a lid a little smaller than the pan to ensure they keep submerged. Transfer to a colander and drain well.

Soften your butter in the microwave. Mix all the ingredients for the chilli butter together in a bowl with 1 teaspoon of salt. Place the cauliflower quarters, onions and chillies on a large, parchment- lined baking tray and pour over the chilli butter. Carefully mix to make sure everything is very well coated. Arrange the cauliflower quarters so they are spaced apart as much as possible; one of the cut sides of each quarter should face down, so the leaves are exposed.

Roast for 30 minutes. Then baste well (get a spoon and put the sauce onto the cauliflower to make sure the flavours get properly absorbed. Turn the heat down to 170℃ fan and continue to roast for another 35-40 minutes, basting twice, until the cauliflower is very well browned and the leaves are crispy.

Transfer everything to a platter, spooning over all the remaining butter and chillis from the baking tray. Serve with the lemon wedges.

Tips: Basting things ensures that as much flavour is absorbed by whatever you are cooking.

It is important to understand the difference between Urfa Chilli Flakes and Aleppo Chilli Flakes. It's easy to assume just because something is from a chilli it will be very hot/spicy however this is not true. Aleppo Chilli Flakes have a moderate heat and are from Syria. Urfa Chilli's are from Turkey and have a deeper, smokier heat. Don't be afraid to have a smell and a taste of a single flake one after the other to understand the difference!