Roast Cauliflower with Olive Tapenade & Garlic White Bean Mash

The Melbourne weather is so unpredictable at the moment don’t you think? One minute we’re in the tropics, basking in the heat up on rooftop bars and the next, there’s an icy blast of epic proportions that has me reaching for my winter coat.

It’s been a long winter here too between blog posts on My Square Frying Pan. If you’re a returning reader, thanks so much for sticking around. I think you’re ace! And if you’re new around these parts, a big welcome and hello. Some of you will know that my website was hacked back in April this year and I was forced offline while my website was completely pulled apart and rebuilt. Luckily nothing was lost but the web developer I enlisted took their sweet time in getting the job done and then there more adjustments to be made after the fact. Anyone who has been through this experience will know how painful that can be and how very important it is to have everything backed up.

In the meantime, I felt like I was missing my right arm without my little corner of the internet. Well, now I’m super pleased to be back and there’s lots to catch up on. I’ve been busy with freelance writing projects behind the scenes, finished another year of university and snuck in a few overseas trips as well which I’ll be posting about in the coming weeks.

So sit back, enjoy this recipe and I’ll be seeing you again soon xo

When I first started recipe testing this dish for an upcoming edition of Latte, a few months ago, I was wishing for a little piece of summer having just stepped into an Antarctic winter straight from five not-long-enough weeks of a glorious European summer.

These parcels of goodness bring the seasons together by combining the sweet, buttery roasted cauliflower, the tang of black olives and garlic as well as a creamy white bean mash that is balanced off nicely by a splash of fresh lemon juice.

A sweet young cos lettuce leaf brings all the wonderful flavours and textures together in unexpected harmony just like a little hint of summer wrapping its warm arms around winter.

You can these eat cold or warm and they’re equally good whether you’re going into summer in Australia or heading for the long winter like my readers in the Northern Hemisphere. The great thing about these also is that they’re ready made servers so no cutlery required. Try 1-2 for an entree serve per person or 4-6 for a main meal. Perfect for gluten-free, vegan and vegetarian dinner guests too.

Roast cauliflower with olive thyme tapenade and garlic white bean mash

Serves 4 (main) or 8 (entrée)

Ingredients

1 large head of cauliflower

Cos lettuce leaves

Mash

2 cans of cannellini beans

2 cloves of fresh garlic (crushed)

1 Tblsp of lemon juice

Pinch of smoked salt & cracked pepper

Tapenade

3 cups of stale breadcrumbs

4 sprigs of fresh thyme

2 cups of pitted Kalamata olives

2 Tblsp of olive oil

Method

1. Slice cauliflower into thick steaks and lay on top of baking paper. Drizzle with olive oil and season with sea salt and cracked pepper. Bake at 190C for 40 minutes.
2. For the mash, sauté crushed garlic then blend together with the cannellini beans. Add lemon juice, olive oil, smoked salt and cracked pepper. Set aside.
3. For the tapenade, blitz breadcrumbs together with fresh thyme, olive oil and sliced olives.
4. When the cauliflower is ready, flip the steaks over which should be beginning to caramelize. Top with tapenade and return cauliflower to the oven for another 30 minutes at 150C or until the tapenade becomes crunchy.
5. To construct, spoon two teaspoons of mash into a cos lettuce leaf then top with cauliflower. Mash and cauliflower can be warm or cold.

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