MOROCCAN CHERMOULA CAULIFLOWER
Fresh herbs, garlic, lemon juice and warming spices like chilli powder are the ingredients you’d expect to find in a traditional chermoula sauce, popular in Morocco and throughout North Africa. In this recipe, however, I’ve created a honey-sweetened version and omitted the traditional chilli powder — I like to let the magic of garlic, lemon and honey come through.
Serves 4 as a sharing dish
● 1 large head of cauliflower (or 2 small), trimmed and left whole For the chermoula sauce
● 3 garlic cloves, crushed
● 4tbsp olive oil
● 4tbsp runny honey
● 1tbsp ground toasted cumin seeds (see panel p23)
● 1tbsp smoked paprika
● ½tsp ground black pepper
● Finely grated zest of 1 large lemon
● Sea salt
● 4tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
● 30-40g (1-1½oz) fresh coriander leaves, chopped
● Slivered almonds, toasted, to garnish
● Lettuce leaves on the side, to garnish
Preheat the oven to 200°C/fan 180°C/gas 6 and line a roasting pan with baking paper, making sure the baking paper comes up the side of the pan.
To make the chermoula sauce, combine the garlic, olive oil, honey, ground cumin seeds, paprika, black pepper, lemon zest and a pinch of salt in a bowl. Whisk in the lemon juice, then add three-quarters of the coriander leaves. Place the cauliflower upside-down in the bowl and spoon the chermoula sauce over. Use your hands to rub the sauce all over the cauliflower. Push any leftover sauce into the gap between the central core and florets on the bottom — you don’t want to lose any of that flavour.
Transfer the cauliflower, right-side up, to the roasting pan. Pour over any chermoula sauce remaining in the bowl and cover with foil, pressing the foil around the cauliflower. Place in the oven and roast for 30 minutes.
Uncover the pan and continue roasting for a further 25 minutes, or until the cauliflower is tender and slightly charred. You should be able to slide a knife into the core easily. Sprinkle with the remaining coriander and the toasted almonds. Serve with lettuce leaves on the side.