This Grilled Cauliflower with Winter Pesto recipe is a fantastic Thanksgiving dish if you are cooking for a vegetarian or vegan. It’s gluten-free too. For the pesto in this recipe, use whatever nuts you have.
To make this dish, start by frying onions in oil to make crispy onions. Pre-cook the whole cauliflower in a large pot of boiling water. Make pesto. Warm cannellini beans through, mash and add some pesto. Cut the cauliflower into quarters. Grill the cauliflower quarters until charred and golden. To serve, place the bean mash on four plates. Top each one with a wedge of cauliflower, a drizzle of the herb oil and the crispy shallots.
To make my Grilled Cauliflower with Winter Pesto, you will need the following ingredients:
Peel and slice 3 shallots into thin rings. Heat oil in a pan and slowly fry the shallots for 15 minutes, until golden. Remove from the oil using a slotted spoon and place on kitchen towels to crisp up.
Place the whole cauliflower in a pan of salted water. Cook over medium heat for 3 minutes. Remove from the saucepan. Drain and leave to cool.
Rub 1 teaspoon of chili into the cauliflower and season with sea salt and black pepper. Drizzle with a little oil and set aside.
Place 25 grams of nuts in a dry pan and toast over low heat until golden. Grind the toasted nuts with a pestle and mortar or blitz in a food processor. Add the herbs and a pinch of salt to the nuts and blitz or bash again until you have a thin paste. Season with lemon juice, oil, salt, and pepper. Set aside.
Place 2 cans of cannellini beans in a pan with a few tablespoons of their liquid. Heat for 10 minutes over low heat until warmed through. Mash and stir in 1-2 tablespoons of the pesto.
Cut the cauliflower into quarters. Grill on a preheated griddle pan over high heat for 6-8 minutes until golden and charred.
Divide the cannellini bean mash between 4 plates. Top with a wedge of cauliflower and a drizzle of pesto.
This Grilled Cauliflower with Winter Pesto is a delicious Thanksgiving dish to cook for the vegetarian or vegan in your life this year. If you try this recipe, please come back to leave a review to tell me what you think!
