MIND BLOWING MUSHROOM & CAULIFLOWER

First of all, Happy New Year everyone! I hope you all had a lovely holiday season, doing whatever you may have been doing, wherever you may have been. 

Back in London last week, off the plane, I went straight out to eat at one of our favourite spots, where we tried this dish, one bite, we were immediately in love.. Cauliflower puree with mushrooms, croutons, parmesan.. Yum! It’s a beautiful winter vegetable dish; delicious, warming and comforting but not too heavy. Although I loved the dish, for me, I needed just a touch of freshness and a little lift. Which is where the lemon zest comes in. I also wanted to make it dairy free and switched out the croutons for soy toasted pumpkin seeds. The miso in the puree, as well as being very good for you, gives a delicious depth of flavour, with the unami sweet and salty hit rounding out the puree perfectly. 

It’s a quite a simple quick dish to make but would recommend serving with some greens to make more a main course or you could serve it as a starter for a dinner party. Add a drizzle of truffle oil to take it up that notch and really blow your guests away ;). 

I used my nutri bullet for the puree.. such a handy little machine! Easy, compact and powerful. If you don’t have one a good food processor or blender will also work just fine. I would try to make it nice an smooth though, the contrast in textures between the puree, mushrooms and seeds is really nice. 

I’d say this dish feels decadent while actually being really good for you, nice bonus I’d say.. I hope you enjoy as much I have this past week, when I’ve made it no less that 4 times this week! Testing, photo shoots and dinner parties.. A hit every time :) 

 

Cauliflower Puree

1small head of cauliflower - cut into 1cm slices

200ml nut milk

1 bay leaf
1 small clove garlic

1 heaped tsp yellow (shinshu) miso

50ml olive oil, plus extra to drizzle

pinch sea salt, pinch white pepper
 

1tbsp mild coconut oil

600g mixed mushrooms

1 clove garlic

1tsp good quality red wine vinegar or sherry vinegar

fresh chopped oregano

fresh chopped parsley

sea salt or truffle salt, black pepper

red chilli flakes

soy toasted pumpkin seeds

First steam the cauliflower, place the slices and bay leaf in a medium pan, cover with the almond milk and gently bring up to a simmer, steam for about 7 minutes until the cauliflower is tender, it should be soft but not mush. 

While the cauliflower is cooking prep the rest of your ingredients. Slice the mushrooms, chop your herbs. 
Heat a large fry pan, add a little coconut oil, then the mushrooms, you may need to do this in batches. You don’t want to overcrowd the pan. as the mushrooms will start to sweat. Grate, in your garlic just before the last mushrooms are almost finished, cook until it just starts to become golden. Transfer your mushrooms to a bowl with a tsp of vinegar, the herbs and seasoning. Set aside. 

Once the cauliflower is cooked, drain, saving the liquid. Add to a high speed blender with the miso, olive oil. Add a little milk to start and keep adding until you get the desired consistency. I like mine nice and smooth, you’ll need about 100ml. 

Heat through the mushrooms and the cauliflower when you’re ready to serve. Divide the cauliflower between four plates, top with the mushrooms, a drizzle of olive oil, or truffle oil if you like. Sprinkle with a little chopped parsley, chilli flakes and add pumpkin seeds for crunch. Breadcrumbs or croutons will also work nicely. 

Voila, a stylish easy dinner..