Author Notes: A few weeks ago we visited friends in Portland, OR who took us out for a meal at Tasty N Sons. There, we had fried cauliflower with harissa cream. I don’t know if I was just excessively hungry or what, but it was pretty much the most amazing thing I’ve ever eaten. Back home, I set about trying to create my own rendition of it. I wasn’t up for deep frying the cauliflower (as ridiculously amazing as that is), so I roasted it, along with olives and garlic cloves, Then I made some homemade harissa-ish sauce and stirred it into creme fraiche to smother over the top. Then I threw on some pomegranate arils because I had them. They were sort of an after thought, but they also really added a little extra something delicious and worked really well. —fiveandspice
Serves: 2-4 (or almost only 1, if you eat this like i did)
Ingredients
Roasted cauliflower with harissa cream and pomegranate
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1
head of cauliflower, cored and cut into florets
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12
pitted green olives
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7
whole cloves of garlic, separated but peels still on
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2
tablespoons olive oil
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salt
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1/2
cup creme fraiche
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2
tablespoons homemade harissa paste (plus more to taste) – see below
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1/3
cup pomegranate arils
Harissa paste
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7
ounces chipotle peppers in adobo
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1 1/2
tablespoons sweet paprika
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1
teaspoon ground cumin
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1
teaspoon ground coriander
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2
large cloves of garlic, peeled
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2
tablespoons fresh lemon juice
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2
tablespoons olive oil
Directions
Roasted cauliflower with harissa cream and pomegranate
- Preheat your oven to 425F. Toss the cauliflower florets, olives, and garlic cloves with the olive oil and a couple good pinches of salt. Spread it all out on a rimmed baking sheet in a single layer.
- Roast in the oven, stirring a couple times during the process, until the cauliflower has turned all golden and brown and charred in spots, about 30 min. Remove from the oven, slip the garlic cloves out of their skins, and transfer the cauliflower, olives, and peeled garlic to a serving bowl or platter.
- While the cauliflower is roasting, make the harissa paste (see below). Stir 2 Tbs. of the harissa into the creme fraiche. Taste and add more to taste. (You’ll have a good amount of harissa left, but that’s nothing if not a great thing. Smear it on everything, especially meats that you then proceed to slow cook and serve with yogurt sauce.)
- Scrape the harissa cream over the top of the cauliflower mixture, then sprinkle with the pomegranate and serve.
Harissa paste
- Blend all of the ingredients together in a blender or food processor until smooth. Ta-da! Your harissa
