So this week my friend and mentor Jenny shared an old Ottolenghi recipe which means that cauliflower is back on the menu again! This is somewhere between a savory cake and a quiche made with both eggs and flour. I particularly like the fact that this dish can be sliced up and put in the fridge for quick and easy (bread free) weekday lunches. And because it’s ‘robust’ it will be great in a packed lunch or picnic once we are all finally allowed to leave our homes and venture into the outside world…

Ingredients

A small cauliflower - I used a beautiful Romano but any type is fine
A red onion
A handful of any leafy green herbs, finely chopped - I used parsley
1 1/2 tsp harissa paste
1 tsp tumeric
A couple of cloves of garlic or a squirt of garlic paste
4 tbsp self-raising flour
4 tbsp grated hard cheese - as I'm in Italy I used Grana Padano
4 eggs
Salt and pepper to taste
Butter to fry off the onion and grease the flan dish

Method

First break the cauliflower into florets. Jenny’s recipe suggested boiling it but I prefer to roast all my vegetables as I think it makes for a better flovour, texture and vitamin content so that’s what I did this time. Basically just pop the cauliflower florets on a baking tray with a drizzle of olive oil and some salt and pepper. If you roast the garlic cloves this also deepens the flavour. Place in a hot oven for 20 mins until soft and lightly brown. Leave to cool.

Next, chop the herbs and put in a bowl with the tumeric, harissa paste, garlic, salt and pepper. Mix well. Chop and fry off the onion in a little butter and then add the herby spice mixture and cook for 2 minutes.

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Mix together the flour and grated cheese in a bowl, then add the herby spice mixture, the eggs (beaten) and roasted cauliflower. Combine well and spoon into a greased flan dish.

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Bake for around 25 minutes in a medium oven (200 degrees). Turn out when cool and cut into slices. The cake can be eaten hot, cold or stored in a fridge for later – if it lasts that long!