Ottolenghi’s Roasted Cauliflower and Hazelnut Salad
Warm roasted cauliflower is tossed with toasted hazelnuts, pomegranate seeds and a light maple dressing in this elevated winter salad from Ottolenghi.
From the book
Jerusalem
100 recipes celebrating Jerusalem's fusion of flavours
Ottolenghi's exquisite recipes made simple
Inspiring ideas for delicious vegetable dishes
Introduction
Cauliflower, raw or lightly cooked, is a useful salad ingredient, above all in winter when there isn’t a great variety of fresh vegetables available. It soaks up flavours particularly effectively and benefits from anything sweet and sharp. This salad, which will go well with the Chicken sofrito (see page 190 of Jerusalem) or with Grilled fish skewers with hawayej and parsley (see page 226 of Jerusalem) is inspired by a recipe from a brilliant Australian chef and food writer, Karen Martini.
Ingredients
| 1 head of | cauliflower, broken into small florets (660g in total) |
| 5 tbsp | olive oil |
| 1 large stick of | celery, cut on an angle into 0.5cm slices (70g) in total |
| 30g | hazelnuts, with skins |
| 10g | small flat-lea parsley leaves, picked |
| 50g | pomegranate seeds (from about ½ a medium pomegranate) |
| ⅓ tsp | ground cinnamon |
| ⅓ tsp | ground allspice |
| 1 tbsp | sherry vinegar |
| 1½tsp | maple syrup |
| salt and black pepper |
Method
Preheat the oven to 220°C/200°C Fan/Gas Mark 7.
Mix the cauliflower with 3 tablespoons of the olive oil, ½ a teaspoon of salt and some black pepper. Spread out in a roasting tin and roast on the top oven shelf for 25–35 minutes, until the cauliflower is crisp and parts of it have turned golden brown. Transfer to a large mixing bowl and set aside to cool down.
Reduce the oven temperature to 170°C/150°C Fan/Gas Mark 3½. Spread the hazelnuts out on a baking tray lined with baking parchment and roast for 17 minutes.
Allow the nuts to cool a little, then roughly chop them and add to the cauliflower, along with the remaining oil and the rest of the ingredients. Stir, taste and season with salt and pepper accordingly. Serve at room temperature.
