Baked Cauliflower with Parmesan

Cauliflower can be a little bland, but does have a distinctive flavor, it works well in a dish as an ingredient. Try Red Lentil Cauliflower Curry, it’s good. However as a side, it needs a little coaxing. So for that we’ll use the oven and some cheese and make baked cauliflower with Parmesan, it’s delicious

The Cauliflower

Cauliflower has been around a long time, it was even mentioned in Roman times. Which is a coincidence, because Parmesan comes from the same place. Those Romans were pretty smart, I bet they paired the two. Cauliflower is good for you too, a serving will give you more than half your daily requirement of vitamin C. Sometimes you have to “sell” the veggies, and what better way than baking with cheese.

Cauliflower is over 90% water, which needs to be taken into consideration when baking it. It’s going to shrink down a bit. By using slightly larger chunks it’ll shrink down a little less. I’m a big fan of baking vegetables, try Baked Brussels Sprouts with Bacon it’s delicious, I feel it concentrates the flavors. In this recipe I’ll use one cauliflower, however, if you have a family of big eaters, and everyone wants more, it’s possible two could be needed

The prep

It’s very easy to make. Preheat the oven to 400, line a baking tray with parchment paper. Now, cut off chunks of florets rinse under water, and put them in a mixing bowl. I wrote a post about safe food prep, there’s some good information in there. If you read any of my other recipes, you’ll know I always give you choices to customize the recipe as you would like. I keep things simple and drizzle olive oil and grind a little salt and pepper, mix everything together to coat. If you want to change it up a little, have at it, the options are only limited by your spice rack.

Pour the cauliflower florets into the parchment paper and spread them out even. Put them in the oven for about 20 mins. You’ll see they’ve shrunk down a bit, I like to see a little char on the tips. Now sprinkle the freshly shredded Parmesan over the cauliflower and put back in the oven for another 5 mins. Freshly grated is important here. A very good friend of mine explained that from the moment cheese is grated it starts to go stale. And, factory grated cheese has anticaking agents added, that’s corn starch. I don’t like stale cheese with cornstarch, so, use fresh. The Parmesan will melt, I also like to see a little char on it. When done, let it sit for 5 mins to firm up a bit and serve your baked cauliflower with Parmesan cheese. Enjoy and thank you.