“Green Eggs and Ham was the story of my life. I wouldn’t eat a thing when I was a kid, but Dr. Seuss inspired me to try cauliflower!”
Jim Carrey
I have a reputation to live up to. I was dubbed “The Cauliflower Queen” last year when I seemed to be making a lot of dishes with this cruciferous vegetable. After a hiatus, I am back!!! And I wonder if Jim Carrey could be pursuaded to eat this interesting cauliflower cake?
The inspiration for this cake came from a recipe of Yotam Ottolenghi. The original was made in a springform pan with boiled cauliflower florets. I slow roasted the cauliflower with the sweet onion to bring out the flavors and develop some color. I made mine in a rectangular pan as I was to serve it as an appetizer and wanted to cut it into bite sized pieces. It really was more like a dense frittata than a cake. I added some classic salsa as a dip on the side.
Roasted Cauliflower and Onion Savory Cake
1 small cauliflower, outer leaves removed and cut in small flowerlets
1 sweet onion, peeled and chopped coarsely
1/2 t finely chopped fresh rosemary
4 T olive oil
7 large eggs
1/2 c basil leaves, chopped
1 c flour
1 1/2 t baking powder
1/3 t ground turmeric
5 oz of grated parmesan or other aged cheese
salt and pepper
1 T sesame seeds
1 t nigella(black sesame) seeds
melted butter to coat pan
Preheat oven to 350F On a parchment lined baking sheet toss the cauliflower, rosemary and onion together with the oil and 1 teaspoon of salt. Roast for about 30 minutes on the lower oven rack, stirring often to prevent burning, until the vegetables are soft. Cool to room temperature. Increase the oven temperature to 400F.
Prepare your baking dish by generously brushing the bottom and sides with butter and sprinkling with the sesame seeds.
In a large bowl beat the eggs with the chopped basil and 1 teaspoon of salt and pepper to taste. Add the parmesan, flour, baking powder and turmeric to form a batter. Add the roasted cauliflower and onions to the batter. Pour into your prepared pan and bake in the center of the oven for 30 minutes until golden. Let rest at least 20 minutes before slicing.
Enjoy warm or at room temperature.
- The buttered pan with the sesame seed coating.
- The roasted cauliflower, onions and rosemary
- The batter in the prepared pan.
- The golden cake.
Just the idea of slow roasting the cauliflower with the sweet onion sounds amazing! That painting is just beautiful!
Who knew a cauliflower could become a masterpiece?!!! Thanks Julie.
Johanne Lamarche
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What a lovely way to eat cauliflower Johanne!! Love the idea of a savory cake!
Love everything Ottolenghi comes up with and this was an interesting way to prepare cauliflower for sure!
Johanne Lamarche
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Minus the cheese this sounds great!
Interesting thought but in this recipe, the cheese is necessary I think with all those eggs. But to make you happy Mr Fritz, you could add bacon😄!
Ha! Thing is though I cannot eat cheese…
Ah that explains it. Wondered that. I went back to read some of your posts and realized you didn’t have cheese in your dishes. Could try cauliflower cake with your usual substitute for cheese.
Johanne Lamarche
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Reblogged this on Chef Ceaser.
Now that is a cake I would eat!
You are too funny Elaine! Don’t you love Ottolenghi? Have you ever dined at his restaurants? On the bucket list!!!
Johanne Lamarche
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I do and yes I have 🙂 my sister in law introduced me to Ottolenghi when she took me to his first restaurant in Islington many years ago…little did I know how amazing it would be and what influence it would have 🙂
I am both in awe and so jealous!!! I follow him on Instagram and have one of his books. The man is a culinary genius!
Johanne Lamarche
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I’ve got all of his books!! 🙂
I’ve been to Nopi too 🙂
Now I’m really green with envy! Lucky lucky woman!!!
Johanne Lamarche
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🙂 xx
Johanne that is absolutely the most beautiful head of cauliflower ever painted! Wow and double Wow!
Your recipe is fitting your title of “Cauliflower Queen” and long may you reign. A wonderful and very easy recipe. Would be perfect for the upcoming holiday as a side. Love it. Happy Thanksgiving.
I totally agree Teresa! Who would have thought such inspiration could be found in a head of cauliflower? I could not find the location of this painting and had never heard of Luis Melendez before but we are in the early stages of planning a trip to Spain and I hope to seek out some of his work while there. Your comments always brighten my day. You have such a gift with words. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving as well Teresa!
Johanne Lamarche
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I am ready to make this for a vegetarian thanksgiving… i am excited to try this with a variation on the herbs and spices I have on had. Thanks- Zeba
Happy Thanksgiving Zeba! I bet your table will be most interesting with all vegetarian dishes. For me it’s all about the sides!! I can skip the turkey. Here is a link to Ottolenghi’s original recipe for the cake. He cuts big rings of onion for the top. Let me know how yours turns out.
http://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-cauliflower-cake-recipes-from-the-kitchn-217980
Johanne Lamarche
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It turned out great, I will post it and link to you ! Thanks!
Happy to hear! Will look forward to your post.😃
Johanne Lamarche
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Yum! I must go and buy a cauliflower and make this too – after all it is a cake! 🙂 And it looks and sounds so delicious. Thanks for sharing Johanne! 🙂
Thank you Lili! Nothing like your sweet creations but very interesting. Cauliflower camouflages in so many ways doesn’t? Happy FF weekend!
Johanne Lamarche
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I’m a newbie to cooking cauliflower so looking forward to it! 🙂 Have a lovely weekend too Johanne! 🙂 x