Description
Roasted Romanesco! Romanesco is a stunning chartreuse-spired cruciferous hybrid of broccoli and cauliflower. Roast it with shallots, garlic & lemon- a simple recipe that takes 15 mins of hands-on time!
Ingredients
Units
- 1 head Romanesco- choose one that has similar-sized spires for most even cooking.
- 1-2 tablespoons olive oil
- 4–6 fat garlic cloves, each sliced into 4–5 slices lengthwise.
- 2 Shallots- cut into 1/2 inch wedges.
- 1–2 tablespoons lemon zest- from one small lemon (optional, leave out if adding Asian flavors)
- 1/2 teaspoon chili flakes, more to taste (Aleppo or Urfa Biber is nice here)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, more to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper, more to taste
- optional- 1/4 cup shredded parmesan
Italia Salsa Verde (Optional- or see other sauces in post)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425F
- Prep Romanesco: Remove the leaves and stems off the Romanesco, and trim off any discolored ends. Slice the leaves in half lengthwise to create strips. Cut the stem in half, then in 1/4-1/2 inch thick strips. Carefully, starting from the bottom of the bud, pull off the spires with your fingers, keeping them intact.
- Season: Place all in a big bowl. Drizzle with olive oil, add the sliced garlic, shallots, zest, salt, pepper and chili flakes and toass to coat well.
- Bake: Place on a parchment-lined sheet pan, not overlapping. Bake for 15 minutes, stir in parmesan if using, and bake for 5-10 more minutes, until tender-crisp, yet still vibrant in color. Taste and adjust salt, pepper, and chili flakes- I usually add more of all.
- While it is roasting, make your choice of sauce.
- To make Salsa Verde: Place everything in a food processor and pulse until uniformly chopped and combined. Add more olive oil to loosen it if you like. (You can also finely mince everything by hand and stir in a small bowl.)
- To serve, place a few tablespoons of Salsa Verde on a large plate or platter, place the roasted romanesco over the top, with tips pointing up and out-along with all the toasty bits. Then add a few more spoonfuls Salsa Verde over and around. For color and heat, Calabrian chilies are a nice and punchy.
Notes
Leftovers will keep up to 3 days in the fridge- feel free to reheat- in a sauce pan, in the oven or microwave.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: ¾ cup - without sauce or parmesan
- Calories: 81
- Sugar: 2.5 g
- Sodium: 308.2 mg
- Fat: 5.5 g
- Saturated Fat: 0.8 g
- Carbohydrates: 7.6 g
- Fiber: 2.2 g
- Protein: 2.4 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg