Oven Roasted Caulilini (Flowering Cauliflower)
Oven Roasted Caulilini is a quick and simple side dish that can be served alongside meat, fish or as part of a vegan meal. Find out how to make it below.
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What is Caulilini (flowering cauliflower)?
These delicate, coral-like florets are what’s known as caulilini or flavoiwering cauliflower.
It has long, loose, thin, tender pale green stems with tiny cream-coloured florets. Some say it resembles baby’s breath (gypsophila) which I think makes flowering cauliflower a kind of edible bouquet! You could say it looks like purple sprouting broccoli dyed white!
Caulilini was first developed by a Japanese seed company, Tokito Seed. Supposedly it came about because one of the employees wanted to create a type of cauliflower that had thinner stems and a better flavour. When they finally worked out how to grow this type of cauliflower they called it Fioretto, which means “little flower”.
The trick to creating caulilini (or flowering cauliflower) was not to genetically modify regular cauliflower. It is actually a cauliflower and broccoli hybrid. Isn’t that clever?!
Where can I buy caulilini (flowering cauliflower)?
Caulilini is not yet a mainstream vegetable. It’s got a way to go before it’s sold in most supermarkets the way purple sprouting brocolili is these days. When it’s in season you should be able to buy it from farmer’s markets and high end grocery stores.
You might want to look out for some of these other common names used to describe it in stores:
- Stick cauliflower or White stick cauliflower
- Sweet sprouting cauliflower
- Biancoli
- Artisan broccoli spears
- White broccoli or Bianco broccoli
When is caulilini (flowering cauliflower) in season?
Caulilini comes into season in late spring and can be found in stores throughout summer and, as the world warms up, into the autumn.
What does caulilini (flowering cauliflower) taste like?
The flavor of Caulilini is sweet and delicate (though it has more flavour than regular cauliflower). The florets have a nutiness to them but it’s the stems that have a real sweetness.
In short, it is sweeter, tender and more flavorful than traditional cauliflower. The tiny stems do not need to be peeled, and the entire plant can be eaten!
How should caulilini (flowering cauliflower) be cooked?
It can be fried, steamed, grilled, blanched, or eaten raw in salads or on crudité platters. One of my favourite ways to cook it is to first dip it in tempura batter before frying. It can also be pickled!
But, for this recipe we will simply be roasting it in a hot oven.
The recipe
Oven Roasted Caulilini
Ingredients
- 250 g Caulilini
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 clove garlic thinly sliced
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 200 C / 392 F / gas mark 6.
- Place the caulilini into a roasting tin along with the olive oil, garlic and salt and pepper. Toss well.
- Roast for 15 minutes until the white florets are just turning brown and the stems are tender.
Nutrition
More vegetable side dishes
More seasonal recipes
For more recipes that come into their own as the cold months turn warm, check out the spring recipe archive.