whole roasted cauliflower with whipped goat cheese
August 26, 2013 § 69 Comments
Several months ago while skimming through an issue of Bon Appétit I came across this impressive whole roasted cauliflower recipe. I knew I had to cook it and two days later while visiting our family in Idaho, we had a whole cauliflower roasting in the oven as well as goat cheese, cream cheese and feta whirling in the food processor. I have made this wonderful roasted cauliflower twice since then and my family loves it. It is so tender and somewhat “nutty” in flavor.
Precooking the cauliflower in seasoned broth infuses it with flavor and roasting it creates a nice crispy edge. This roasted cauliflower is so fork-tender and the whipped goat cheese was astounding. Astoundingly so that I have prepared it as a dip (adding caramelized onions) for our chips, vegetables or anything else you can find to scoop it up!
You may want to trim your cauliflower of it’s bottom leaves in order for it to sit flat in your roasting pan. I keep them on because we enjoy eating them as well. The recipe may seem a bit elaborate for roasting a vegetable, but it is well worth the effort and time.
EDIT: (After doing a search on the web for this recipe I have found every site “featuring” this recipe, as well as Bon Appétit Magazine, calling for 1/4 cup salt in the cooking liquid. You may want to adjust the salt to your discretion, however, we did not find the cauliflower to be too salty using the recipe as it is listed below) I found the cooking liquid is quite pungent and cabbage like after the cauliflower has cooked therefore, in my opinion, it may not be suitable to save as a broth for future cooking.
Recipe exactly how it appears in Bon Appétit Magazine…
I n g r e d i e n t s
- 2 1/2 cups dry white wine
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup salt
- 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 head of cauliflower, leaves removed
Whipped goat cheese
- 4 ounces fresh goat cheese
- 3 ounces cream cheese
- 3 ounces feta
- 1/3 cup heavy cream (I used half and half)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil plus more for serving
- Coarse sea salt (for serving)
M e t h o d
Preheat oven to 475 degrees. Bring wine, oil, kosher salt, juice, butter, red pepper flakes, sugar, bay leaf, and 8 cups water to a boil in a large pot. Add cauliflower, reduce heat, and simmer, turning occasionally, until a knife easily inserts into center, 15-20 minutes.
Using tongs transfer cauliflower to a rimmed baking sheet, draining well. Roast, rotating sheet halfway through, until brown all over, about 40 minutes. Check at 30 minutes and continue to check every 5 minutes until brown as you like.
While cauliflower is roasting, blend goat cheese, cream cheese, feta, cream and 2 tablespoons oil in a food processor until smooth, season with sea salt. Transfer whipped goat cheese to a serving bowl and drizzle with oil.
Transfer cauliflower to a plate. Drizzle with oil, sprinkle with sea salt. Serve with whipped goat cheese.
Whipped goat cheese can be made 1 day ahead and covered and chilled.
Recipe courtesy of Bon Appétit.
Serves 3 as a side dish.
COTTAGE GROVE HOUSE 
i am so glad you posted this recipe! i have been craving it; the whipped goat cheese is amazing!
Wasn’t it so good! I should have left the recipe with you, sorry you had to wait for me to post it. :) Say “hi” to the family for us!
I really love this, amazing. Love the roasted cauliflower and I am a big fan of whipped blended goat cheese. YUM!
A first for me to whip the goat cheese and really loved it. I made this dip for some chips too. So good!
Wow! This looks very tasty! Your pictures are so mouthwatering!
Thank you so much. :)
Lovely! I once made whole roasted cauliflower, but hadn’t precooked it, and even though the outside was nicely browned, it wasn’t quite done. This sounds like a great way of avoiding that problem! Unfortunately my boyfriend doesn’t like goat cheese, so I would have to come up with a different “dip” to go with it (or make two, one for me, one for him :) )
I think the sauce really enhanced the cauliflower and can imagine many sauces to work well. Even a yogurt base sauce similar. I’m sure you have a repertoire of delicious sauces to choose from. :) I have never roasted a whole cauliflower before but can imagine the outside to get really crisped before the inside had time to become tender. This worked really well.
I love that you did this. It is one of my most favorite things. Roasted Cauliflower….I have a yellow cauliflower in the fridge. Sounds like tonight’s dinner.
Hope you give it a try Janet. It is worth the effort. Actually it doesn’t require too much effort, just an extra step in the cooking process. Evidently this recipe originated in New Orleans at a restaurant called Domenica. I researched the recipe a little more after I posted it since the quantity of salt appears to be “way too much”…I didn’t find the cauliflower to salty when we had it…what’s your opinion? I’m curious.
That’s gotta be a typo. 1/4 cup? Was it suppose to be like salt roasted beets? I wrote the recipe down and intuitively scaled it down to 1 teaspoon.
On a lighter note CONGRATULATIONS, Versatile blogger you!
Great idea, I love new takes on classic food combinations! Ill have to give this a try!
Yes, it is such a new approach to cooking cauliflower. Very delicious, tender and the whipped goat cheese was very nice with it too. We loved the crispiness on the outer edges.
Roasting the whole cauliflower is such a great technique – keeps the sogginess away- and there are so many toppings you can add.
Yes, true. When the cauliflower is first boiled it is carefully watched so it does not get overcooked and soggy. Then, the high heat roasting gives it just enough time to get nice and crispy on the outside.
It looks delicious.
Thanks! :)
This looks so tasty and very well done.
Hey…thank you! I loved this roasted cauliflower. It had such a nice flavor after soaking and cooking in the liquid prior to roasting. Wasn’t dry at all and so tender and seasoned nicely.
Beautiful dish…we love roasted cauliflower and the goat cheese is a great addition.
Before this recipe I had roasted cauliflower (cut) a few times. We love it too! This has a very lovely table presence and the internal “meat” of the cauliflower was so tender, moist and seasoned just right.
This looks wonderful — I will have to see if we haven’t eaten the whole cauliflower that came in our CSA box this week!
Hope you have some to try this. Hey, thank you for “pinning too” :) We used to be a member of a CSA a few year ago. I think I’ll have to do that again next season. It is always so fun to receive produce you wouldn’t normally purchase at the market.
Wow this is so much better than just a plain roasted cauliflower. I love the addition of wine, butter and sugar. Serving this with goat cheese is such a great combo. What a great idea. I’m making your corn chowder tonight btw.
It really is a nicely flavored cauliflower. (I must say it was a little difficult to pour 2 1/2 cups of “my” wine into the pot!) :) How did the corn soup turn out? Hoping it passes your approval and it was enjoyable.
Ha! I feel the same way about my wine. The corn soup was incredible!! I just finished it! I made a few changes to yours by combining it with another similar recipe and adding some spanish smoked paprika and quinoa. With your permission, I’d like to do a post on it with a link back sometime this week.
Yes! I look forward to seeing your spin on it. Sounds great. I love smoked paprika and quinoa seems like a great addition. I’ll keep my eye out for your post. Thanks! :)
Such a new thing to me. Love it. Looks so pretty. Sorry it sounds silly but did you like it?
Thank you! Not silly at all! Yes! I liked it very much….enough to make it two more times after the first time. :) It is very simple, nutty, tender and seasoned so nicely. Wonderful. Nice to hear from you.
I’m definitely making this. Such a new thing to me and it’s only a cauliflower! Love it!
that looks divine and is what I’m going to do with the next head of cauliflower that ends up in my fridge. Thanks for the tale :-)
Great. We really love this and this is the only way I will cook our cauliflower from now on. Thank you for your comment! :)
Oh I can only imagine how good that tastes! The dipping sauce sounds over the top amazing!
yes! We thought the sauce really push it over the top. Try it?
Fantastic idea, will be making this very soon!
Thanks. :)
Hey seana! I’ve seen this roasted cauliflower recipe going around in magazines, blogs, everywhere but I still haven’t tried it! I’ve tried roasted broccoli once and I loved the crispiness of the part that’s slightly burnt!! Must try this one day!!
I’ll have to try roasted broccoli too. Sounds great. Hope you are doing well Felicia!
Wow! This sounds amazing! I’m going to have to try it.
Thanks. Do try it…it’s so tender and delicious.
That cooking liquor could be used as a sauce if there wasn’t so much salt added. Although, I don’t know cups. Hold on…hehehe, have just used that conversion site I gave you. Seriously, that much salt? Hmm, and too much water. Which isn’t really needed. I’d definitely reduce both, drastically, part steam cauliflower with a lid on pan and try and use that delicious sounding liquor. Shame to waste it!
hmmm. Well, I double checked the bon appetite magazine recipe (the one I followed) and sure enough…it is 1/4 cup salt and 8 cups water. Well, I’m sure you can improve upon any, if not all of my recipes. :) We all really enjoyed this and it really didn’t seem too salty. Thanks for your feedback! :)
It’s yummy roasted with paprika too :)
I agree! I’ll use that too next time..
I’m a big fan of roasted cauliflower, though I’ve never precooked it. What a great idea, as is serving whipped goat and cream cheeses as an accompaniment. I have to give this a try.
This was a first to precook the cauliflower too. I can see how it is necessary if keeping it whole because I think it would not roast properly. The inside was very tender and the outside was a bit crispy. The result was very tender and crispy edged. Very impressive…I thought. Very nice recipe.
That looks beautiful! And oh so yummy!
Thank you Lidia. :)
What a great idea, it sounds amazing
Thank you. :)
love this take on cauliflower and cheese sauce. Yours sounds like a more adult version with the goats cheese. Delish!
You’re right. I didn’t even look at it like that. :)
Brilliant recipe and food photography! Yum! :-)
Thank you so much Stefano. :)
torture. reading this post was pure torture. i love cauliflowers and goat cheese and roasted veggies … this food, my friend, looks ah-mazing!
This looks so good. And special. Thanks for the reminder about this winning combination.
I love the idea of roasted cauliflower and goat cheese together. Sounds absolutely spectacular! And it looks delicious. Thank you for sharing!
Thank you Anne. Nice to hear from you….I’m a little behind in checking in with your blog this past few days…catching up though! Thank you for stopping by.
What a beaut. It’s its own art piece. Too bad it’s not for looking at ;)
Thank you so much Jen.
Have bookmarked this – it looks sooo good:)
That sounds (and looks!) absolutely delicious. I love roasted cauliflower, but when I’ve had it whole it often seemed underdone on the inside. Obviously this recipe solves that.
Thank you Michelle. This was the first time I made a “whole” cauliflower and I can see how it is necessary to boil it first. This cooking liquid is very good. Appreciate your comment. :)
I have tried roasting a whole cauliflower before, to no avail :( But this recipe gives me a renewed hope, and it really is such a wonderful idea that I’ll have to try it again!
Yes, boiling it first really tenderizes the inside and then roasting really makes it nice and crunchy. It’s delicious.
That sounds amazing!! We do a roasted whole cauliflower with a mustard/mayo mix and then sprinkle cheddar cheese on top and it is wonderful. Cauliflower is about the only veggie I can get my oldest to try!!
That sounds delicious! Do you parboil your cauliflower first? I’m curious if you don’t if the center gets nice and tender without first “pre-cooking” it. I’m interested in your recipe. Have you posted it?
I haven’t posted it, maybe I will do that. I do parboil before roasting, just long enough to make the mixture for the top. Thanks for posting this recipe, can’t wait to try it out.
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