roasted stuffed cauliflower

Make as an alternative to nut roast for veggies and vegans on festive. So try this festive and filling cauliflower roast stuffed with kale and chestnuts to make it more delicious.

Prep:25 mins
Cook:1 hrs 5 mins
More effort
Serves: 6

Ingredients

1 large or 2 small cauliflowers (about 850g)
5 tbsp olive oil
4 tbsp breadcrumbs
250g kale, chopped
1 tbsp milled linseed
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
½ small pack of sage, leaves chopped
½ small pack of rosemary, leaves chopped
150g cooked chestnuts, finely chopped, plus 30g for the topping
2 lemons, zested
good grating nutmeg

roasted stuffed cauliflower Method

Step: 1 Cut out and discard the cauliflower leaves. Then turn it upside-down on a chopping board and cut carefully out the stalk and core using your knife, but leaving a cavity – the florets still should be holding together.

Step: 2 Drive a big pan of salted water to the boil. Now submerge the cauliflower and cook for around 7 mins, and then take it out with two slotted spoons and put aside to steam dry. Add the kale to the pan and cook for about a minute or so until wilted. Then drain, and run under cold water to cool. Squeeze the excess liquid out and roughly chop.

Step: 3 Now, to make a linseed ‘egg’ (this will bind together the stuffing), then mix the ground linseed with 3 tbsp water and put aside for around 5-10 mins or till gluey. For now, in a frying pan heat 2 tbsp oil, add onion and a pinch of salt, then cook till softened, stir in the remaining stuffing ingredients, including the kale, then cook for one min or so more. Take off from the heat and season, after that put in a blender with 150ml water and the linseed egg and blend to a thick purée. Shift it to a piping bag.

Step: 4 Fill or pipe the stuffing mixture into every cranny and nook of the cauliflower, try getting in as much of the purée as you can for the great filling. Shift to a baking tray lined with parchment. ( This can be made up to this point in the morning and can be kept in the fridge).

Step: 5 Warm oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Mix the leftover chestnuts with breadcrumbs and a little seasoning. Spoon the left oil all over the cauliflower, after that pat on the breadcrumb chestnut mixture. Roast for around 45 mins till golden brown and eatable (put under a hot grill for the last part of cooking time if it needs to be crisp up). You can serve this with any crisp bits that have fallen onto the baking tray.