Charred Cauliflower and Red Chile Pesto

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For weeks I have seen white, purple and orange color cauliflower sold at the local farmers market and because of it’s beauty and symmetry, I was intrigued to prepare it. My past reluctance for it is due to my sensitivity to sulfurous and pungent tasting vegetables like this and brussels sprouts. I discovered that caramelizing cauliflower by roasting or broiling creates a mild and refreshing taste that is simply delicious. I recently saw a food magazine article saying that cauliflower is the next “it” vegetable and how it’s become trendy in restaurants.

I charbroil the cauliflower under the broiler and serve it with a red chile pesto. My red chile pesto recipe is a parody of a classic genovese pesto and as you will see, I use ingredients common to Mexican cuisine. It turned out great – hope you think so too. Let’s get started.

Ingredients

Serves 4-6

5 California dry chile pods, de-stem, de-seed

¼ cup fresh oregano leaves

¼ cup pinenuts

½ cup (2 oz) crumbled cotija cheese

1 clove garlic

½ cup extra virgin olive oil plus more for brushing over cauliflower

Salt and pepper

1 head cauliflower, trimmed and separated into florets

Preparation

Pesto

Remove stems and seeds from pods and rinse twice with water discarding the rinse water. Place pods in a bowl and cover with water. Soak the chile for about an hour or until the pods are completely soft, turning them during the soak period.

In a food processor, liquify the chile pods with 1/4 cup of water left over from soaking. Process for 2 minutes until you create a paste as smooth as possible in order to eliminate chunks of chile skins. Add the oregano, pinenuts, cotija, garlic and oil into the food processor and pulse until smooth; season with salt.

Cauliflower

Heat oven broiler. Arrange cauliflower in a single layer on a baking sheet. Brush with oil all sides of each floret and season with salt and pepper. Broil for about 15 – 20 turning florets over once until charred.

Plating

Place the florets on a serving platter and top with pesto and garnish with a stem of fresh oregano.

Notes

You can substitute dry chile pods of ancho, pasilla or New Mexico. The Italian word pesto is synonymous to pestare, which means to pound, grind or trample.

Buen provecho.

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