Roasted Cauliflower with Romesco Sauce

Perfectly roasted cauliflower steaks smothered in a sweet, smoky, & spicy romesco sauce.

If you could’t tell, I’m a bit obsessed with sauces and cauliflower.

I always feel like you need a great flavorful sauce to kick a dish up a notch. What can I say? I’m a saucy girl!

I also LOVE cauliflower. It’s such a versatile veggie. And let’s be real. Cauiflower is totally having a moment. You can use it to make wings, pizza crust, rice. You name it.

But let’s not forget about the classic preparation. Drizzled in olive oil and sea salt and roasted to golden brown perfection.

Yum!

Then smothered in a sweet and smoky roasted red pepper sauce.

DINNER WIN!

Let’s get to cooking!

We’ll start with the romesco sauce.

What is romesco sauce, you ask? It’s roasted rep pepper and almond based sauce that originated from Tarragona, Catalonia in Spain. It’s an explosion of flavor in your mouth: sweet, smoky, earthy, spicy, and acidic.

It’s chunky, delicious goodness.

Romeso sauce is also very versatile. It goes well on fish, chicken, steak, and veggies. You could smear it on bread or a cracker. Heck, you could just eat it by the spoonful!

It’s also very easy to make.

First, you need to toast the almonds. Toasting nuts helps to bring out their flavor. On a baking sheet, roast the nuts in a 350 degree oven for about 10-15 minutes, or until golden brown and fragrant. Remove from the baking sheet and set aside to cool.

On the same baking sheet, add the Roma tomatoes, cut in half and drizzled with olive oil and sea salt. Bake them until they start to turn golden brown and caramelize. Roasting the tomatoes helps bring out their sweetness, and the slight char parts add smokiness to the sauce.

Also, add the garlic with olive oil to the baking sheet, and roast with the tomatoes. The roasted garlic really helps make the sauce pop!

Add the roasted almonds to the food processor and pulse until the almonds break down and resemble course sand. I like to pulse the almonds first to make sure they are properly broken down and there are no large almond chunks in the sauce.

Add in the remaining ingredients and blend until they are all incorporated. The sauce will be chunky, but still creamy. Very much like a pesto.

The other two stars of this sauce are the roasted red peppers and smoked paprika. The peppers add an earthy sweetness to the sauce and the smoked paprika gives it that subtle spicy punch.

I paired the romesco sauce with oven roasted cauliflower, quinoa, and spinach and topped with fresh parsley and feta cheese. All together, it is magic!!

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Roasted Cauliflower with Romesco Sauce

Course Main Course

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Total Time 50 minutes

Servings 4

Author Dani

Ingredients

Romesco Sauce

• 2 Roma tomatoes
• ¾ cup almonds
• 2 large roasted red peppers
• 4 cloves Roasted Garlic
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 2 T olive oil
• Juice of half a lemon
• 1 T Champagne vinegar

Roasted Cauliflower

• 1 head of cauliflower
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Toast the almonds until slightly browned and fragrant, about 10 minutes. Remove almonds from baking sheet and set aside to cool.
2. Cut the roma tomatoes in half and sprinkle with olive oil and salt and pepper. Roast for 30 minutes or until start to wrinkle and brown. On the same pan, add the garlic drizzled with olive oil and salt, and wrap in foil, and roast for same amount of time. Let cool slightly.
3. In a food processor, add the toasted almonds and a pinch of salt and pulse until resemble a coarse sand.
4. Add in the remaining ingredients and blend until the ingredients are well incorporated and create a thick, delicious sauce.
5. Next, cut the cauliflower into in long pieces. To do so, leave part of the core intact so it will hold the cauliflower together. Do not worry if some of the pieces break off, you can still use them!

6. Roast the cauliflower for 25-30 minutes in a 350 degree oven. Flip half way trhough cooking.

7. To assemble, add a swoop of the romesco sauce on the plate, top with a piece of the roasted cauliflower, and sprinkle with parsley and feta.
8. Eat and enjoy!

Recipe Notes

The sauce will store in the fridge for up to two weeks. 

I recommend serving this dish with quinoa and wilted spinach. 

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