Selin says: When roasted with lots of butter, cauliflower takes on an indulgent meatiness with lots of inherent nuttiness to it. It is no surprise it pairs so well with tahini and pecans. I love playing around with vegetables in this way, especially a vegetable, like cauliflower, that has had to endure a lot of overcooking and mushing over the years.

Use regular tahini if you can’t find the black version (but the dramatic appearance of the black one is worth the effort of finding it).

Serves 4

Ingredients

2 large or 4 small cauliflowers
6–8 tbsp natural cauliflower purée
extra-virgin olive oil
150g unsalted butter
4–8 small cauliflower leaves (optional)
sea salt flakes (kosher salt)
4 tbsp tahini (black, preferably)

For the dressing

80g pecans, toasted and crushed
4 natural dried apricots, finely chopped
1 tsp thyme leaves, chopped
10 chives, finely sliced
1 tbsp capers, rinsed and chopped
4–5 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 tsp maple syrup
1 tbsp vinegar (red, white, apple cider or moscatel)

Method

Heat the oven to 210°C/190°C fan/415°F/gas mark 6–7. Cut 4 steaks from the central part of the cauliflowers – if the cauliflowers are large you should be able to cut 2 steaks from each. Alternatively, you could just cut wedges and follow the recipe as per normal. Put a little olive oil in a large, ovenproof frying pan (skillet) and place over a medium–high heat. Add the steaks (you may need to do this in two separate pans) and sear for 1–2 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Season both sides with a little fine salt, turn the heat down and add in half the butter.

As the butter melts, use a spoon to keep basting it over the cauliflower. Once you have basted the cauliflower a few times, add the remaining butter to the pan, turn the cauliflower over and place in the oven for 10–15 minutes. Baste the cauliflower halfway through the cooking time. Take the cauliflower out and drain on a piece of paper towel. Before serving, place the cauliflower leaves, if using, into the hot butter and baste for 20–30 seconds or until they turn golden brown.

Drain on paper towel and season with fine salt. Mix together all the ingredients for the dressing. To serve, smear the cauliflower purée onto the plate, drizzle around the tahini, add the cauliflower steaks, spoon over the dressing, and cauliflower leaves (if using).

Notes

You could also just coat the cauliflower florets in a little olive oil, season – a dusting of Kyseri spice or curry powder would be fabulous, too – and bake at 210°C/190°C fan/415°F/ gas mark 6–7 for 15 minutes or until soft with golden edges. Be careful tasting them, you may find it hard to stop.
Instead of making a purée, you could chop up the trim of the cauliflower, caramelize in some butter and, once cool, blend through some thick yoghurt, to provide a creamy contrast to the cauliflower steaks.

Three: Acid, Texture, Contrast – 3 ways to transform vegetables with this surprising ingredient