I am a huge fan of Yotam Ottolenghi … he is not only very easy on the eye (sorry … but it’s true!), he is an amazing chef and a great inspiration, and I just adore his cookbooks!
This recipe of his appeared on lots of blogs a few months ago, with the latest appearing in The Kitchn ( see here ) so it definitely caught my attention. The original recipe is in Yotam’s cookbook “Plenty More” (page 258) if you have it.
Yotam coats the sides of the tin with melted butter and sprinkles it with a combination of nigella seeds (the little black seeds you see on Turkish bread) and sesame seeds … but you can use whatever seeds you like, or miss this step if you prefer … I choose not to use seeds as we have an allergy in our family … BUT I do think it would add a wonderful “nutty” texture.
This is a great recipe for a family dinner, or to serve at a girls’ luncheon, or a light entree (thinner slices) at a dinner party, or to take as picnic fare. Leftovers are great eaten cold the next day too.
I like to serve it with a dollop of sour cream and a spicy chill sauce … yum!
RECIPE UPDATE: November 2018
I haven’t made this for a little while, but yesterday I did … and as I am always looking for opportunities to improve any dish I make, I decided to slightly increase the quantity of cauliflower used (from 1.1kg to 1.4kg), added an extra egg (from 7 to 8), added a little cream (125g), and also the zest of 1 lemon.
I did this because I wanted the cake to be slightly bigger to feed more people, and as cauliflower can be a little bland (it is fabulous at taking on other flavours), I increased the seasoning so hence the use of the lemon zest.
The cake baked a little longer, and my family thought it was fantastic … so this is the way I will prepare it in future, and have adjusted the recipe accordingly.
I am a huge fan of Yotam Ottolenghi … he is not only very easy on the eyes (sorry ... but it's true!), he is an amazing chef and a great inspiration, and I just adore his cookbooks!
This recipe of his appeared on lots of blogs a few months ago, with the latest appearing in The Kitchn ( see here ) so it definitely caught my attention. The original recipe is in Yotam’s cookbook “Plenty More” (page 258) if you have it.
Yotam coats the sides of the tin with melted butter and sprinkles it with a combination of nigella (the little black seeds you see on Turkish bread) and sesame seeds … but you can use whatever seeds you like, or miss this step if you prefer … I choose not to use seeds as we have an allergy in our family … BUT I do think it would add a wonderful “nutty” texture.
This is a great recipe for a family dinner, or to serve at a girls' luncheon, or a light entree (thinner slices) at a dinner party, or to take as picnic fare. Leftovers are great eaten cold the next day too.
I like to serve it with a dollop of sour cream and a spicy chill sauce ... yum!
- 150g parmesan, cut into cubes
- 1½ medium cauliflowers (washed and cut into small florets / weight of florets used is 1400g)
- Melted butter for coating the sides of the tin - optional
- Seeds to coat the butter (see notes - optional
- 1 large red onion, peeled (leave whole)
- 60g olive oil
- 2 sprigs fresh rosemary, leaves only
- ½ cup fresh basil leaves
- 150g spelt flour, or plain flour
- 1-1/2 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp ground turmeric, or 1 tsp turmeric paste
- 8 x 59g eggs
- 125g full fat cream
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 2 tsp sea salt flakes
- 1 tsp freshly ground pepper
- Grease and line the base and sides of a 24cm (base measurement) round spring form cake tin with baking paper
- If you are going to sprinkle the sides with seeds, then lightly grease the sides of the paper with melted butter and toss the seeds around so that they stick to the butter
- Place the parmesan into TM bowl and mill 10 seconds / speed 9 … put aside
- Fill the TM bowl with water up to the 1 litre mark
- Place the florets into the Veroma and steam for 15 minutes / Veroma / speed 2
- Stir the florets around, then steam again for another 5 minutes / Veroma / speed 2, and repeat this process one more time (so they have steamed for a total of 25 minutes)
- By this time the cauliflower should be cooked, but not falling apart as you still want some slight resistence
- Put the cauliflower into a large mixing bowl to cool off, and lightly rinse out the TM bowl and dry off with kitchen paper (does not need to be perfect)
- Preheat oven to 180 degrees fan forced, and place rack in the middle of the oven
- Start on your filling: cut four round slices off the top of the red onion and put aside
- Cut the rest of the red onion into chunks and put into the TM bowl
- Add the oil and rosemary and chop 3 seconds / speed 7, scrape around bowl then cook for 10 minutes / 100 / speed 1 / MC off
- Allow the onion mix to cool a little in the TM bowl for 10 minutes
- When the onion mix is cooler, add the basil, flour, baking powder, turmeric, parmesan, eggs, cream, lemon zest, salt and pepper and blend 10 seconds / reverse / speed 6, scrape and repeat 5 seconds / reverse / speed 6
- Pour the wet mix over the cauliflower florets in the large mixing bowl, and stir through so that all the cauliflower is well coated
- Pour the mix into the tin spreading it evenly on top with the back of a spoon (It will still look a bit lumpy but that is okay, as the filling will rise during baking making the top of the cake more even), and then top with the four rings of sliced red onion
- Bake for 60 minutes, turn tin around and continue for another 10 minutes, or until skewer inserted into centre comes out clean and the top is a nice golden brown and set
- Remove cake from oven and leave to rest for 20 minutes before serving
Stunning work here Gina, happy to share it on FB and Pinterest! xoxo
Helene … you are awesome … thank you … I am a very visual learner, so I find having photos can help … glad you like the result xo
Delicious. Thank you for converting for TMX.
Thank you so much Sarah for taking the time to let me know … really appreciate it! xo Gina
Thanks for the great step by step photos Gina.
I find it helps me a lot too Bev … i’m a very visual learner xo
Hi Gina,
I am planning on halving the recipe and cooking in a 17cm tin, do you think it will still need the same baking time?
Thanks Carol.
Hi Carol … the baking time will be determined by the depth of the mixture when it is in your tin … I haven’t tested it using a 17cm tin so I am reluctant to give a specific time, but if it was me I would bake it for 45 minutes, then test with a skewer to see if it comes out relatively clean and then decide if you need extra baking time as you want a nice golden colour on top.
Carol … I would also like to mention that the cake is lovely cold with salad for a light dinner, so even if you decided to make the recipe as is and enjoy it over a couple of days that would be great too. There is only my hubby and I at home now, so I find I like to cook once, and then eat a couple of times from that meal adding just a salad to compliment it. It keeps well in the fridge for a few days too and is lovely drizzled with lemon yoghurt dressing if you like yoghurt. Only suggesting this in case you feel that is an option for you.
Good luck my dear … I am sure it will work out but test it at 45 as I suggest xo Gina