Recipe: Tobie Puttock’s whole roasted cauliflower with romesco sauce

Whole Roasted Cauliflower with Romesco Sauce
Serves: four

Ingredients
1 large cauliflower head
extra virgin olive oil
sea salt

For the romesco sauce
1 large red capsicum
3 medium tomatoes
2 thick slices of sourdough, slightly toasted and torn into pieces
2 large garlic cloves
½ cup almonds, toasted plus more for serving
1 teaspoon chili flakes
small handful flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
sea salt
freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
½ cup extra virgin olive oil

Method
Pre-heat the oven to 180C and place a small baking dish/ tray of hot water in the bottom of the oven to create some steam so the cauliflower is nice and moist.
Discard any outer leaves from the cauliflower and use a small sharp knife to cut off the bottom stem and then carefully cut out some of the core.
Give the cauliflower a rinse under cold water, place it core side down on a chopping board and use your hands to rub the entire surface area of the cauliflower with the extra virgin olive oil and salt. Place the cauliflower into a baking dish core side down and cook in the oven for 1-2 hours or until it is golden in colour and can easily be pierced with a small knife.
I like to baste the cauliflower while its cooking a couple of times with a little more extra virgin olive oil.
While the cauliflower is cooking you can make the romesco sauce.
Cook the capsicum and tomatoes on a grill until the skins are quite charred. Remove the capsicum and pop into a bowl covered with plastic wrap and allow to cool. Remove the tomato and place in a separate bowl and allow to cool.
Once the capsicum is cool use your fingers to remove the skin and the seeds and do the same for the tomatoes.
Add the garlic cloves to the bowl of a food processor and pulse until finely minced. Add the toasted almonds, bread and chili and blitz to a paste.
Scrape down the side of the bowl if needed and add the tomatoes, capsicum, parsley, paprika, a pinch of salt and pepper and blitz until smooth. While the processor is running add the vinegar and the extra virgin olive oil in a steady stream until you get the consistency you are after. I like mine quite thick so I don’t think it out too much with olive oil.
To serve smear a generous amount of the romesco sauce over the base of a large serving plate and place the roasted cauliflower on top. Finish with some toasted almonds and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.