Roasted Cauliflower Steaks

Make Ahead and Storage

Refrigerated for 3 days. Reheat 8 minutes at 220°C / 428°F; the microwave undoes all the work.

Roasted Cauliflower Steaks: The Method

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1. Heat the oven to 220°C / 425°F with a large heavy baking tray inside it. Give it a full 15 minutes.

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2. Stand each cauliflower on its stem and cut straight down through the core into 2.5 cm slabs. You will get two good steaks from the middle of each; keep the loose florets from the outsides.

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3. Brush the steaks and the loose florets all over with the oil and season with the salt, pepper, paprika and cumin.

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4. Pull the hot tray out and lay everything on it in a single layer — it should hiss loudly. Roast 20 minutes without moving anything.

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5. Turn the steaks carefully with a fish slice and roast 12 to 15 minutes more, until both faces are deeply browned and a knife slides into the stem without resistance.

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6. Meanwhile blitz the parsley, mint, capers, garlic, vinegar, mustard, oil and salt to a loose, spoonable sauce. Do not over-blend it to a purée; it should stay flecked.

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7. Spoon the salsa verde over the hot steaks and scatter with almonds and pomegranate seeds.

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A Few Pointers

• Preheat the tray. This is the whole difference between roasted and steamed.
• Cut through the core, never across it.
• Do not crowd the tray. Two trays are better than one crowded one, always.

Behind the Recipe

Two things make this work and both are about heat. The tray goes into the oven empty and comes out screaming, so the first face sears on contact rather than sweating — cauliflower is 92 per cent water and a cold tray steams it grey. And the slabs must be cut through the stem, not across it, because the core is the only thing holding the florets together; anything cut off the round sides falls apart and should go on the tray as loose florets instead.

What to Put Next to It

Warm flatbread · Giant couscous · A glass of dry rosé

Sides from the same cuisine on this site: New York Bagels, Skillet Cornbread, Creamy Coleslaw.

If You're Missing Something

• An eighth of a teaspoon of garlic powder per clove is the stand-in usually given when you are out of fresh garlic; it will not brown the same way, and it burns easily, so add it with the liquid.

Roasted Cauliflower Steaks Nutrition

Per serving, calculated from the ingredient list with USDA FoodData Central figures (SR Legacy). A calculation, not a laboratory analysis: brands, cuts and how you measure change the real numbers. How the figures are worked out.

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