ROAST ROMANESCO WITH LEMONY LEEK DRESSING

Romanesco is one of those vegetables that stops you in your tracks as visually it is striking.  Chaturese in colour with spirally points, it looks as though it is a cross between a cauliflower and broccoli.  It has a firm texture like a cauliflower and a slight nutty flavour.  Cook it as you would a cauliflower by steaming, roasting, baking, sauteing, eating raw and so on.

For this simple dish I cut it into thick steaks and spooned the lemony leek dressing generously over.

Preparation - 15 minutes

Cooking - 20 minutes

Skill - easy 

Serves 6

Ingredients

1 Romanesco

4 Tbsp olive oil

1 (100g) leek, sliced into 2 mm rounds

3 cloves garlic, sliced thinly

¼ tsp fennel seeds, lightly crushed

Pinch chilli flakes

1 tsp oregano

1 lemon, zest and 2 Tbsp juice

1 tsp honey

¼ tsp salt

Freshly ground pepper

Method

Preheat the oven 190C

Cut the romanesco into 1.5 cm (approx) thick slices.  Don’t worry if some of the slices fall apart, just add them alongside the slices.

Drizzle with a tablespoon of oil and season with a little salt and pepper.

Place onto a baking paper lined oven dish and roast for 20 minutes or until golden and tender.

Meanwhile make lemony, leek dressing.

Add the remaining olive oil to a medium sized fry pan. 

Add the sliced leeks and cook gently over a moderate heat for 5 minutes, add the garlic and fennel seeds and cook until the garlic starts to go golden and the leeks have a little texture and colour.

Add the chilli flakes, oregano, lemon zest and juice.  Season with salt and pepper. Stir to combine and taste.  Adjust if necessary.

When the romanesco is golden and tender, spoon over the lemony leeks and enjoy!