Cauliflower Steaks with Romesco Sauce
Roasted Cauliflower Steaks with Romesco Sauce seen here served with black rice is a vibrant dish that is packed full of flavour. Get the recipe below.
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Colourful dinners
I’ve said so many times that the best way to eat is to eat the rainbow. That way you get to enjoy a wide range of fruits, veggies and more! Vibrant food just looks good and if it looks good you’re going to want to eat it! Romesco sauce is one fantastic way to get the colour red into your day!
What is romesco sauce?
Romesco sauce is a Spanish sauce made from roasted red peppers, bread and almonds. It’s usually flavoured with good helpings of paprika and garlic for heat and smokiness then sherry vinegar for a wonderfully tart flavour.
Romesco sauce was traditionally served with fish and also meat (like steak!) But if, like me you are vegan or perhaps vegetarian then it is perfect over veggies like these cauliflower steaks. It can be served either hot or cold.
How do you make romesco sauce?
Traditionally romesco sauce would have been made using a pestle and mortar, mixing together all of the ingredients after the red peppers had been roasted.
Today I take a couple of shortcuts: first of all I use roasted peppers out of the jar. If you want to roast your own peppers then please do feel free but jarred red peppers taste great and create a lot less mess.
The next shortcut I take is buying already blanched almonds. These are much softer than regular almonds with a sweeter taste. They are perfect for thickening the sauce along with the bread which should always be toasted in a dry pan.
The final shortcut I make is to swap the pestle and mortar for a blender! It’s just so much quicker and easier.
Once the sauce is made I heat it through as for this recipe it’s best served hot.
What are cauliflower steaks?
Cauliflower are big slices of cauliflower that are either grilled or roasted to make them tender like a steak.
How do you cook cauliflower steaks?
Cooking cauliflower steaks is easy. The hardest part is cutting the steaks out of the cauliflower. You will want a large, dense cauliflower that has a substantial stem through the middle. This will hold the florets when you cut it down the middle. Here’s how to cut cauliflower steaks perfectly every time.
- Pull off the leaves (these can be eaten and are great in stir fries!)
- Place the cauliflower stem down on your chopping board and slice the cauliflower in half
- Cut each halve into slices roughly 2cm thick.
You could grill the cauliflower (as I did in my recipe for Cauliflower Steaks with Chimichurri Sauce and Sweet Potato Mash). But, for this recipe I like to roast them as it complements the roasted flavours of the romesco sauce.
To roast the cauliflower steaks all you have to do is rub them with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. You then place the steaks on to a baking tray and roast until they are crispy around the edges and tender in the middle.
It’s that simple.
The recipe
Cauliflower Steaks with Romesco Sauce
Ingredients
For the romesco sauce
- 450 grams roasted red peppers from a jar and drained
- 1 inch slice of crusty bread torn into pieces
- 100 grams blanched almonds
- 3 cloves garlic chopped
- 75 ml extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons sherry vinegar or red wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon smoked paprika preferred or sweet paprika
- salt and pepper to taste
For the cauliflower steaks
- 1 cauliflower
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
To make the romesco sauce
- Toast the bread in a dry frying pan for 3-4 mins until starting to turn golden and smelling toasted. Shake the pan regularly so they don’t burn on one side the place them to one side.
- Drain the red peppers and add them to a food processor along with the bread, almonds, garlic, oil, vinegar and smoked paprika then blitz on high.
- Add the sauce to a pan and warm through gently.
To make the cauliflower steaks
- Pre-heat your oven to 220 C / 428 F /gas 7.
- Cut the cauliflower into 4 steaks roughly 2cm (1 inch) thick. (If you can't get 4 steaks roast the florets as they are.)
- Rub both sides of the steaks with the olive oil and season well.
- Place them on to a baking tray and roast for 10 minutes or until the edges start to turn brown, flip them over and roast for another 20 minutes.
Nutrition
More cauliflower recipes
Cauliflower is such a versatile ingredient. It doesn’t have to be bland and boring. It’s a great carrier for all sorts of flavours and has a great texture when cooked well. Here are some of my favourite ways to eat it.
More dinner recipes
You can view the full recipe archive based on meal here.