Easy Quick Cauliflower Steaks Ready For Toppings
If you haven't yet had a cauliflower steak, you have not truly lived. Cauliflower steak is just roasted cauliflower but in the form of thick slabs or slices rather than florets. It not only looks prettier but makes a solo lunch or a brunch for the girls even more exciting because it is so fancy. Like bust out your nice plates and cutlery fancy. And when you top it with your favourite salsa or pesto or chutney or diced salad, it looks unbelievably posh.
Now a lot of cauliflower steak recipes call for boiling the vegetable first and then roasting in the oven. I don't prefer this method as it softens the cauliflower and takes away the beautiful sweetness that comes from just roasting it. Some recipes ask you to cook in the pan, flipping it to cook both sides. Also, a lot of the recipes talk about roasting for a said amount of time and then flipping over and roasting again. Ummm ... No!! You see, cauliflower steak is quite delicate and needs to be cooked smartly. No flipping people .. keep it simple. You don't want to have roasted cauliflower florets (you have had enough of those in your lifetime), you want steaks!
How To Cook A Perfect Cauliflower Steak?
The way I like to do it is to rub or spread olive oil in a metal baking tray. I like to use light metal or aluminium as this won't brown it beyond recognition like darker trays would. Now when you place your cauliflower steaks on this oiled surface and drizzle more oil on top, you are essentially greasing both sides of the cauliflower and the even heat of your oven will cook both sides to a golden perfection. No flipping required! It is important to cook it at a low temperature first so the vegetable cooks to tender perfection and then at an increases temperature to get those beautiful brown edges.
A simple olive and caper salsa is pure gold with roasted cauliflower. In fact, I have used this combination before with delicious results in this grandma pie. I like to use baby capers, also known as Lilliput capers. They are tiny and bursting with mouth puckering flavour. Chop everything finely, especially the olives. It really makes for a pretty dish. I never knew I could eat a whole head of cauliflower in one sitting until I cooked this. It is very hard to stop at one, they are so incredibly more-ish. If you make this and love this, please leave your feedback and raring in the comment below. It really helps others when they are deciding if they want to cook this! x
Recipe
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CAULIFLOWER STEAK WITH OLIVE AND CAPER SALSA
Print Recipe Rate / CommentIngredients
- 1 (1.5 kg) cauliflower, medium head
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
For the olive and caper salsa
- 60 g chilli stuffed olives
- 1 tablespoon baby capers, drained
- 1/2 teaspoon red chilli flakes
- 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped finely
- 60 ml extra virgin olive oil
To finish
- flaky salt, to taste
- black pepper, freshly cracked
- fresh parsley, chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 160°C. Drizzle a large metal baking tray with a tablespoon of olive oil.
- Place the cauliflower on a chopping board, resting on the stalk. Holding the head gently, slice the cauliflower into 5-6 thick slices (each about 1 inch wide).
- Place the cauliflower slices gently on the prepared tray. Drizzle the top with remaining olive oil.
- Roast in the pre-heated oven for 30 minutes.
- Increase oven temperature to 200°C (if your oven has a grill setting, turn it on). Roast for a further 15-20 minutes at this higher temperature till the cauliflower is starting to char and brown nicely. Remove from the oven and set aside.
- Place all ingredients for the salsa in a small glass jar. Mix well.
- Spoon prepared salsa over the cauliflower steaks. Sprinkle with a pinch of sea salt flakes, freshly ground black pepper and chopped parsley.
- Serve immediately.
I found a new love of cauliflower after trying this recipe, so I thank you for that! Also the olive and caper salsa is to die for. I wanted to add – for those who happen to have an Instant Pot or digital pressure cooker – pressure cooking a whole head of cauliflower on top of a trivet with a cup of water, makes for easy cutting into "steaks" – and if you have tried, you will know how difficult it is to cut a fresh cauliflower into steaks without it falling into lots of pieces. After pre-cooking and carving, sprinkling with olive oil and grilling to get the charred bits, is an option for those time-poor.
Can’t wait to serve this at our dinner party for 10 the end of this month! Looks beautiful and so delicious!
Great pic Sney! I like how the food pops. Just wondering what the surface (the fabric) is that you shot the cauliflower on? Did you make it? How? Thanks 🙂
Thanks Adrian! It is a canvas I commissioned by Food Styling Backgrounds on Instagram. Cheers!
Loved it! Didn’t have capers so just spread ready made olive tapenade on top. Ace.
Wow! Just delicious! Super easy, great flavours, this would be great on its own but the salsa just lifts it. Awesome recipe thank you 🙂
Made this for dinner and it was so delicious! The roasted cauliflower steak was scrumptious by itself but adding the olive and chili sauce took it to a whole new level!
Thank you for sharing this unique recipe with us. It sure looks delicious. The recipe seems simple enough and the servings are perfect for a cozy lunch in this rainy season. Looking forward to your next drool worthy recipe.
What a good idea! This sounds so yummy!