The Happy Pear’s Roasted Harissa Cauliflower with Warm Hummus and Za’atar
An explosion of flavours combine in this quick and easy za'atar and harissa baked cauliflower served on a bed of hummus.
From the book
The Veg Box: 10 Vegetables, 10 Ways
100 wholesome, enticing recipes helping you to unlock the endless versatility of vegetables
Packed full of zero waste advice and fully plant-based ingredients lists
Turning carrots into burgers, courgettes into cakes, and mushrooms into sausage rolls
Introduction
This makes a wonderful sharing platter and is such a beautiful centrepiece, celebrating one of our favourite ways to eat cauliflower. Za’atar is a spice mix that we love, and we have created our own simplified version to combine perfectly with the spice of harissa paste for a real flavour explosion. We’ve used shop-bought harissa here, but you can also make your own.
Ingredients
| 1 | head of cauliflower |
| 2 tbsp | harissa paste |
| 50g | pine nuts |
| 2 tbsp | sesame seeds |
| 2 tbsp | cumin seeds |
| 2 x 400g tin of | chickpeas |
| 2 cloves of | garlic |
| 4 tbsp | tahini |
| juice of 1 lemon |
Essential kit
You will need: a food processor.
Method
Preheat the oven to 200°C fan/220°C/gas 7.
Cut the cauliflower into florets, discarding the tough centre rib from the leaves. Put the florets and leaves into a mixing bowl. Add 4 tablespoons of olive oil, a good pinch of salt and the harissa paste and mix well, coating all the cauliflower and leaves. Transfer to a baking tray and bake for 25 minutes, removing the leaves after 15 minutes, as otherwise they’ll burn.
Put the pine nuts, sesame seeds and cumin seeds into a dry frying pan over a medium heat and leave for about 5 minutes, stirring regularly until they start to brown and smell toasty. Be careful not to burn the pine nuts. Put them into a pestle and mortar with ½ teaspoon of salt and a good pinch of black pepper, and grind until you reach a breadcrumb texture. (If you don’t have a pestle and mortar, just place everything in a ziplock bag and use a mug to bash them until they reach a breadcrumb consistency.)
For the hummus, drain and rinse the chickpeas and peel the garlic. Put a pan of boiling water on a high heat and add the chickpeas. Cook for 10 minutes, to warm them through. Drain the chickpeas and put them into a food processor with the garlic cloves, tahini, lemon juice, 1½ teaspoons of salt and a good pinch of black pepper. Add 8 tablespoons of water and blend until super-smooth.
Mix 1 teaspoon of harissa with 3 tablespoons of oil to make a harissa oil.
Spread the hummus on a serving plate and top with the roasted harissa cauliflower. Drizzle over the harissa oil and garnish with about 3 tablespoons of za’atar (put any leftover za’atar into an airtight container and keep for 2 weeks). Any leftover hummus will last for 3–5 days in an airtight container in the fridge
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