I have three cauliflower heads in my refrigerator right now–a beautiful orange one, a pristine white one and a spectacularly purple-hued one. The bins at my farmers market have been full of beautiful multi-colored cauliflowers in recent weeks. Although I live alone, the temptation to buy one of each was just too strong last week. So here I am with a delicious overstock of cauliflowers and a wealth of delicious options.
I’m a summer soup kind of girl, so one of the cauliflowers is destined for a creamy Cauliflower Soup. I’ve featured Cauliflower Soup on Blue Cayenne before. In fact, there are a number of good cauliflower dishes here (just type cauliflower into the search box to the right!). Here is a link to the recipe I plan to make with the white cauliflower: Cauliflower, Potato and Cheese Soup. It’s delicious and it’s pretty, too.
But…back to the intensely-colored purple Cauliflower. What to do with that one?
I decided to give it a main-dish “steak” treatment and let the just-tender texture of the cauliflower shine through. Then, I came across this easy romesco sauce recipe and voila! I had a wonderful dinner entree that maximized flavor and showcased the cauliflower’s purple beauty.
About the romesco sauce…
It has quite a long history. Spanish cooks have been making this sauce since the 15th century. Food historians believe the sauce originated around the Catalonian port town of Tarragona and was originally served as a sauce for fish. The original dish featured tomatoes but modern cooks have developed variations including this one that uses roasted sweet red peppers.
The spicy romesco sauce is wonderful (and beautiful!) served as a base for the pretty cauliflower cutlet but keep in mind that it would be great served with other dishes as well. Ottolenghi has featured beautiful stalks of green asparagus perched a top a schmear of intense red romesco. (Gotta try that one soon!)
This recipe is from the cookbook Weekday Vegetarians by Jenny Rosenstrach. The book can be ordered through your local bookstore and on Amazon here.
Here is the recipe as I prepared it in my kitchen.
Cauliflower Cutlets With Romesco Sauce
Ingredients
- For the Cutlets
- 1/2 C. all-purpose flour
- 2 eggs (whisked)
- Kosher salt and black pepper
- 2 T. nutritional yeast
- 3 T. extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 large head of cauliflower cut into cutlets
- Chopped fresh chives (for garnish)
- For the Romesco Sauce
- 1 12-ounce jar roasted sweet red peppers (drained)
- 1 garlic clove
- 2 t. red wine vinegar
- Kosher salt and ground black pepper to taste
- 1/2 C. sliced almonds
- 1/3 C. extra-virgin olive oil
Directions
- Step 1 Slice cauliflower into 3/4 inch cutlets
- Step 2 Prepare the romesco sauce. Combine all the sauce ingredients in a blender or in the bowl of your food processor. Blend until you have a thick and spreadable sauce.
- Step 3 Put flour, whisked eggs and seasoned panko crumbs in large bowls to use for dredging your cauliflower. Once you are ready to begin, dredge the cauliflower into the all-purpose flour, the whisked eggs, and the seasoned panko in that order.
- Step 4 Heat a large skillet and lightly oil it. Arrange the “steaks” in the skillet so that they are not touching. Fry the cutlets until they are a pretty golden brown color and are crispy. This will take about 5 minutes depending upon the heat of your pan. Remove the “steaks” from the pan and place them on paper towels until you are ready to plate your dish. You want to serve the cutlets warm to hot, so you want to move quickly at this point.
- Step 5 To serve this dish, spread a dollop of romesco sauce attractively on a plate. Place a cauliflower “steak” on the sauce and sprinkle with chopped chives. Serve.
