A rustic and flavourful vegetarian dinner for two
Cauliflower steaks with tomato and chickpea sauce
Ingredients
- 15ml (1 tbsp) olive oil
- 160g (1 large) onion, diced
- 10ml (2 tsp) crushed garlic
- 5ml (1 tsp) sugar
- 1 tin chopped tomatoes
- 2,5ml (½ tsp) smoked paprika
- 2 stalks of vine tomatoes
- 30ml (2 tbsp) sweet chilli sauce
- 125ml (½ cup) tinned chickpeas, rinsed and drained
- salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 large head of cauliflower or 2 small ones
- 10g (1 tbsp) butter
- olive oil, for frying
- fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped, to garnish
Instructions
Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and fry until soft and tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in the sugar, tinned tomatoes and paprika. Simmer uncovered until sauce thickens and intensifies in flavour, about 15 minutes.
Add the vine tomatoes, sweet chilli and chickpeas. Cover the saucepan with a lid and simmer gently for 5 more minutes. Season and keep warm while you prepare the cauliflower.
Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil and blanch the whole cauliflower for 1 – 2 minutes. Drain and refresh in cold water then cut it into 2 thick (1½ – 2cm) steaks where the florets connect at the thick stem of the cauliflower head. Drain on paper towel.
Heat the butter in a non-stick pan and add a splash of olive oil. Fry the cauliflower steaks on both sides until golden and tender. Season.
Serve the warm steaks topped with the vine tomatoes and tomato sauce. Scatter with the parsley just before serving.
Notes
To ensure that the cauliflower ‘steak’ keeps its shape, cut it into a thick slice exactly where the florets are attached to the stem as this will keep it all intact. You might need 2 separate heads to get 2 steaks (depending on the shape and size of the cauliflower). Use the leftover pieces in a soup or purée the following day.
