It’s been two months since Andrew and I went to New Orleans and I still can’t get all of the amazing food I ate there out of my mind! Seriously if you have never been to that city, just buy an impromptu ticket, get there as soon as possible, and just eat all of the food you can the days you are there. I’m not exaggerating when I say that nearly everything we ate in New Orleans was one of the best things I’ve ever eaten. Full disclosure, Andrew and I totally cheated on that vacation and ate seafood and even a little meat but this recipe right here is my attempt at a recreation of one of the best dishes I’ve ever had, the whole roasted cauliflower from Domenica.
Domenica is an awesome modern Italian restaurant in the Roosevelt hotel. They have everything, beautiful pastas, pizzas, great appetizers and cocktails but the whole roasted cauliflower with whipped feta is out of this world! After eating there, I made a decision that I was going to recreate this if it killed me.
After attempting to look up a recipe for “whipped feta” I realized that it’s actually about 90% cream cheese and heavy cream so I decided to make a healthy twist on this recipe and make vegan whipped “feta”. This sauce is just a few tweaks away from the vegan cream cheese recipe I made with the bagels and it is awesome! We had a ton left after I made this recipe and it’s brilliant served over potatoes or pretty much any other roasted veggie.
Now, let’s talk about this cauliflower, the best part! This is something I had my doubts about but this cauliflower full soaks up all of the flavor of the broth you boil it in and it’s incredible! If you’re vegan, you can add in vegan butter instead of regular butter or just double the amount of olive oil and put in a little extra salt. I swear this broth is so flavorful and delicious, I could just sip it.
The biggest trick here though it to turn the oven up enough so that the top gets blackened and crispy.
Lots of Love,
Jackie
- 1 head cauliflower
- 2½ cups white wine
- ¼ cup sea salt
- ¼ cup lemon juice (2-3 lemons)
- ⅓ cup olive oil
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 2 bay leaves
- 3 tbsp butter (or vegan butter)
- 1 tsp red pepper flakes
- 8 cups water
- Whipped "Feta
- 1 block extra firm tofu (drained very well, squeeze out water)
- 2 tbsp lemon juice (2 lemons)
- 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tbsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ cup olive oil
- 2 tsp zaatar
- 1 tsp paprika
- drizzle chili oil (optional)
- Preheat the oven to 500 degrees.
- Prepare the feta but squeezing all the water out of the tofu with a tea towel or cheese cloth. Add the tofu, lemon juice, vinegar, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and ⅓ cup of the olive oil to a high speed blender. Blend on high until creamy. Remove from the blender and whisk in the zaatar and paprika. Place in the refrigerator and cool for at least an hour. Whisk with the remaining olive oil before serving and top with chile oil or cayenne pepper if you want it a bit spicy.
- While the feta is cooling, make the cauliflower, trim the leaves off the cauliflower but leave the core in tact. Add remaining ingredients to a large pot and fill about ¾ of the rest of the pot up with water. Bring the mixture to a boil and add in the whole cauliflower. Cover with a lid so the cauliflower stays down in the water. Poach for 15-20 minutes, turning it from time to time to ensure both sides cook. The outside should be starting to soften and you should be able to pierce the center with a knife.
- Remove from the boiling water and set aside to cool for 10 minutes.
- Place the cauliflower into a baking pan or pie dish with about 2 cups of the cooking liquid. Using a spook or baster, scoop the liquid onto the cauliflower and place in the oven.
- Bake for 30 minutes on the top until the top is brown all over. Continue spooning the sauce over it about every 10 minutes or so.
- Remove from oven and serve with the whipped feta. You can serve this right away but it does heat up well and the whipped feta keeps well in teh refrigerator.
While I didn’t have the ingredients on hand to make the vegan whipped feta, this cauliflower is amazing. I can’t believe how much of the broth flavor is soaked up while it’s poaching! It’s a perfect combination of flavors, right down to the crushed red pepper! Soooooo good!!