whole roasted spiced cauliflower
April 23, 2015 § 80 Comments
I know some of you are thinking not another roasted cauliflower recipe. How many different recipes do we really need for the same vegetable? But please give me your attention for just a second because I am here to tell you the many wonders of this particular version. Not only is it in the oven lickety-split to free you up for your other high maintenance dishes you may be preparing, but you could just forego the other dishes and have this for dinner, period. 
Other than simplicity of putting this together there are a couple of things you’ll love about this. One is the crispy aromatic outer layer. We went a little heavy on the olive oil just to achieve this result. And with the lovely spices there is no denying the alluring aroma that will fill your kitchen – or in our case, the entire house. Spicy crispy outer layer, soft nutty tender inside, this is why I posted another cauliflower recipe. The lovely cream sauce kept us dipping until the whole head of cauliflower was finished.
This recipe comes from the beautiful blog An Edible Mosaic.
What you will need:
c a u l i f l o w e r
- 1 head cauliflower
- 3 tablespoons olive oil or more to coat the entire head of cauliflower
- 1 teaspoon garam masala
- 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
- 1 teaspoon cumin powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground yellow mustard powder
- 1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper (more or less to taste)
- 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
- small handful of coarsely torn parsley – for garnish
- 1/4 cup pine nuts, dry roasted and coarsely chopped – for garnish
c r e a m y s a u c e
- 1/4 cup mayo
- 1/2 cup plain greek yogurt
- 1 teaspoon coarse mustard
- 1 teaspoon horseradish
- 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon ground sweet paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon garam masala
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper (more or less to taste)
Preheat oven to 425F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Remove the outer green leaves from the cauliflower and use a paring knife to cut out the core, leaving enough core intact so that the florets stay together. Place the cauliflower on the prepared baking sheet and rub generously with the olive oil. Combine all the spices for the cauliflower in a small bowl, and evenly rub the spices onto the oiled cauliflower. Cook until the cauliflower is tender inside and golden outside, about 1 hour 15 minutes, rotating the baking sheet once halfway through. While the cauliflower is roasting combine creamy sauce ingredients in a bowl and set aside. Cool for 5 minutes and transfer the cauliflower to a serving dish. For serving either slice the cauliflower into “steaks” or separate the florets. Serve with the creamy sauce for dipping.
COTTAGE GROVE HOUSE 
Sounds delicious. Am going to try it this weekend. Thanks!
Oh good! Let me know how it turns out Heike.
It looks so inviting! Such a wonderful idea! I love it!!!
Thank you Serena! Always a pleasure seeing your Gravatar here in the comment section. :)
You had my attention Seana. Now and always! I have everything but the pine nuts and the cauliflower. And I’ll add them to my grocery list because you never fail me and why wouldn’t I love this – healthy, simple, smart and I bet delicious too. I love how you get on cooking themes. I’m on one at the moment and I’m going to be so bold as to say – I think you’ll approve even though it lacks a cauliflower. ;) Will attempt to post soon. xo
Well I hope you post it soon! Would love to see what you’ve been cooking lately. I always adore what you prepare. Getting away from cauliflower wouldn’t be such a bad thing because that will mean spring vegetables are in the markets and I can move on! I’m growing weary of the same ole same ole. Believe it or not I already had my fill of asparagus! Although I made the most incredible salad of my life the other night using asparagus…I’m going to have to post it. xx
Can’t wait to try this! :)
Hope you do…it’s definitely delicious! Thank you. :)
This cauliflower looks delicious! My hubby thinks he doesn’t like it but this would be perfect to make when he’s not home.
I didn’t like cauliflower for years and now I can’t get enough of it. Strange. Maybe it had something to do with the way my mom prepared it. Just boiled, no sauce, nothing. :/ Thanks Julie!
I think that is true of a lot of old school dishes. That and they say our tastes change every 7 years.
This looks amazing. At first glance I thought it might be crumbed with its deep golden crust. What a brilliant idea.
You’re right. Just took another look at the photograph and it does look crumbed! What a nice comment…thank you!
I love the sound of this. I’ve tried making whole roasted cauliflower once, and it wasn’t great, but I’d love to give it another try. I love the sound of that creamy sauce…
Oh, I hope this one turns out to your liking…if you give it another try. I was surprised with the 1 hour 15 minutes of roasting time. I guess it is necessary to achieve the tenderness inside. Thank you Darya. :)
This looks great! I have never tried roasting a whole head of cauliflower. The sauce sounds really wonderful too. I will have to try this soon.
I hope you give it a go! If you like cauliflower you must try roasting it whole. In no time it’ll be in the oven roasting and you’ll have plenty of time to do something else before dinner. :)
Do you know if your posts will appear in my reader if I sign up for email notifications on your blog?
In order for my posts to show up in your reader, I think you have to follow my blog through WordPress. I just recently moved from a WordPress.com blog to a self hosted blog, so I am not entirely sure–I think it is still possible to follow my blog through WordPress. I will try to find out for sure. Thanks for asking!😊
Yes that’s what I thought I just didn’t see a “follow” button on your site. Makes sense knowing you are self hosted. Let me know! I’d love to read your posts hot off the press!
Thanks so much–I will look into it and get back to you.
Hi there, I found a link to show you how to follow a non-wordpress.com blog by adding it to your wordpress reader list. It is here: https://en.support.wordpress.com/reader/#adding-new-blogs. Thanks for the interest. I really enjoy your blog!
Thank you Jenny! Just added your URL hope it works! Looking forward to reading your posts. :)
Having spiced cauli for sups, if I ever get the caramelised onions finished! So I can understand why you’re posting this. Cauli’s are so good with spices. Even, like mine, pan-fried on the hob. They’re so easy to deal with. Plus, they’re incredibly healthy from what I’ve read.
Yours sounds even better with the sauce. Rather than my rather dull plain boiled rice! :) Okay, must get those onions finished…
Had to laugh because I know your plain boiled rice will not be dull, especially knowing you are caramelising onions. Anyway you want to cook it (except please…not boiled) cauliflower is so good. And I remember your pan fried cauliflower post! :)
I will never tire of new cauliflower recipes. That sauce looks the business! Nice work my friend 👍
You’re a class act! :) Thanks!
Haha. Cheers 😜
I grew up in the plain boiled cauliflower era too and loathed it until I tried it raw, now I love it cooked every way BUT boiled. I’ve never roasted cauli whole, I’ll definitely try this, probably tomorrow in fact!
Hope you roast one tomorrow! Please give me your feedback if you do. Love your opinion. :)
Love cauliflower looks delicious
Thank you. :)
This looks to be another winner-winner-cauli-dinner! :D I’ll have to put it on my “to make” list!
Ha…nice rhyme! You are too nice because I know you tried my other cauliflower recipe and yet here you are eager to try the next one. :) A true blogging friend indeed.
I hope to write up your recipe for the tomato cauliflower recipe on Sunday! My sister has been here all week and we’ve been busy, no time to post or hardly read my fellow blogger’s posts! xoxo
Honestly, I can never have enough cauliflower in my life. I feel like its an underappreciated vegetable…but its versatility never ceases to amaze me. This looks fantastic and I’m going to make it …certainly something my little ones would love!
Watch out kale…cauliflower is taking over. I think cauliflower is the “new kale”… :)
Yes..a cauliflower revolution is afoot!
Hi Seana – your opening sentence made me laugh because my first reaction was the opposite – I was like “wow yet another cool thing to do with cauliflower”- great recipe, I will add it to the list to do once the price of cauliflower comes back down – its recently gone up from $3-4 per head to more like $6-8!
I can’t believe cauliflower is that expensive there! Where do you live?
Really it is – in Sydney!
I, for one, think there can NEVER be a shortage of things to do with cauliflower. Please don’t tell my Mom since I once had to sit and eat a whole head for lunch after refusing to eat the small floret I was meant to eat the night before dinner.
This sounds yum!
Oh good…we think alike. :) Unimaginable to have to eat a whole head of cauliflower as a child! School of hard knocks and tough love. Good to hear it didn’t ruin your palate for cauliflower.
Love cauliflowers! At least I do now. Elaine @Foodbod got me started, now I get a cauliflower at least once a week. Been eating a lot of cauliflowers lately. This one I’ve got to try! :-)
Yay!!!! 😀😀😀😀
Good job Elaine! I buy one a week too, love it! It’s great to hear from you Angie. :)
Love it!
Thanks Elaine!
Looks wonderful and cauliflower is one of of my favorites vegetables. Thanks for sharing Seana :)
And thank you Linda. :)
Yum lovely cauliflower b
:)
The spices sound delicious. You can never have enough cauliflower recipes!
I agree, never enough cauliflower recipes. :) Thanks so much for visiting!
This looks delicious! Nice brown crust, yum! i would need to try this one with a creamy sauce which sounds wonderful:)
The cream sauce IS necessary. :)
I don’t ‘do’ cauliflower but I think you may just have sold me on it!
Hi B. Thank you for stopping in! I know how it is when you see a recipe for something you don’t eat…it’s tempting! :)
This is just fabulous stuff Seana. Is this the one you were talking about? Well I can’t have enough of cauliflower. I am always looking for some new recipe using the vegetable. Fantastic!!!! 😘😘
Yes! This is the one Sonal. A fabulous cauli recipe. :)
👏👏👏yayyyy
Must be super impressive to serve a whole roasted cauliflower to the family Seana – talk about making an entry! Love the spice mix and also the sauce to dip chunks of the cauliflower into – really sounds delish!
The guys were really impressed with the presentation and I have to admit…so was I! And oh my goodness the cream sauce was delightful. Enjoy the weekend Margot!
Seana, that is very elegant.
Thank you Conor. :)
Not only does that cauliflower look and sound fabulous, but your mayo-based sauce sounds addicting! Wonderful!
The sauce certainly was addicting. The kind where the bottom of the bowl is scraped completely clean. :) It’s so nice to see your comment this morning Mimi.
I like how you’re featuring an otherwise overlooked veggie. This roast is perfect. I like to use curry and ras al hanout. Is so good. I like the way you’re eating!
Thank you Amanda, hope your weekend is going well. :)
Love cauliflower and this sure is an interesting way to liven it up!
This looks amazing – I am going to try this on the weekend for a dinner party.
This looks so good! I really can’t wait to try it. I love all the spices on it, and then you add the sauce. Yum! I’ve never seen a recipe where you roast the whole cauliflower, but it sounds brilliant to me!
Hi Seana, I finally was able to make a version of this today. Delicious! I added paprika, a pinch of cinnamon and used Kashmiri Garam masala, a spice I recently bought and have using with almost everything lately, even carrot cake! Thank you for the inspiration to use it on cauliflower! Yum!
That sounds wonderful! I’m so glad to hear you roasted it “whole”. Hmm, I wonder if my spice store has Kashmiri Garam masala. Thank you for your comment and I really like the added spices you used. Glad it was delicious!
I wish I could have taken pictures, but just didn’t have the time today. My son loved it and eagerly ate it for dinner! Kashmiri garam masala is similar to the classic blends, but just a little more intense. I hope you can find it. I’ll try to post more about it ASAP. Thanks again!!
This is a must-try!!!
I too am a big fan of cauliflower (I’ve actually just posted a recipe for a whole roasted version as well!), and this spicy recipe sounds fabulous. It’s such a great thing to share at a dinner party, isn’t it?
Yes it would be! I haven’t served it at a dinner party and I think I will next time we have guests over. I’m headed to your post now, I’d love to see your whole roasted version.
Just got a cute little cauliflower. Tonight’s dinner, for sure!
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Oh Good! I hope you try it. It’s delicious. Nice to “meet” you today. :)
Same here :)