Whole cauliflower shawarma with pistachio yogurt

This impressive cauliflower dish can be a midweek dinner, or a fuss-free centrepiece to wow your guests, says Nisha Parmar. Serve it on top of couscous, or wrap it up in a flatbread. It also makes a lovely side dish to accompany roast chicken.

1 large cauliflower 1 packet of mixed grains or couscous (soaked in hot vegetable stock) or shop-bought pittas or flatbreads, to serve pomegranate seeds (optional but pretty), to garnish For the shawarma paste: 50ml melted butter 50ml olive oil 3 garlic cloves, crushed 1 tsp sweet smoked paprika 1 tsp cayenne pepper (or Kashmiri chilli powder) 1 tsp ground coriander 1 tsp ground cumin 1 tsp ground turmeric 1 tsp ground allspice ½ tsp ground cinnamon juice of ½ a lemon

For the pistachio yogurt: 75g coriander stalks and leaves 40g shelled pistachios 2 garlic cloves, peeled 2 tbsp lemon juice 250g Greek yogurt sea salt, to taste

For the salad: ¼ red cabbage, shredded 2 little gem lettuces, sliced 2 carrots, grated 1 red onion, finely sliced handful of mild Lombardi pickled peppers handful of mint leaves ½ lemon, for squeezing tahini, to drizzle

• Preheat the oven to 200°C. Remove the outer leaves from the cauliflower, keeping some back. Bring a large pan of water to the boil, add the cauliflower and blanch for 5 minutes, then drain and leave for 5 minutes to dry out and cool a little.

• Mix all the ingredients for the shawarma paste together and rub it all over the cauliflower. Place in a baking tray, with the reserved leaves, and roast for 40 minutes.

• Meanwhile, make the pistachio yogurt. Blitz the coriander (saving a few leaves to garnish), pistachios (save a few, chopped, to garnish), garlic, lemon juice and Greek yogurt together. Season with salt to taste and set aside.

• Mix all of the salad vegetables and mint in a bowl, squeeze over the lemon and drizzle over some tahini.

• Heat the grains (if using), or soak the couscous in vegetable stock, or warm the pittas or flatbreads.

• Serve the cauliflower on a platter, topped with a drizzle of the pistachio yogurt, the reserved coriander leaves and chopped pistachios, and pomegranate seeds (if using).

• Tip: prepare all the elements before roasting the cauliflower for half the given time, finishing the cooking once your guests arrive.