I have been making a version of this for a few years but for some reason have never committed it to paper/screen despite being asked by friends and family for the recipe. The first time I made it was back when I was a lawyer working out in Geneva Switzerland in the middle of the pandemic. We were coming into spring, but the winds in Switzerland were still biting, and with no cafes or shops open to seek refuge from the freeze I was pretty much captive in my toasty little flat looking onto the snow capped mountains. I was working from home, and had a particularly nasty line up of calls and deadlines involving helping rich expats pay as little tax as possible. A grim day indeed. So I decided to give myself something to look forward to by whipping up a private feast comprising an aromatic, tender ,and crispy cauliflower, with a decadent yoghurt dipping sauce and some quick flatbreads using the leftover yoghurt. I mixed up my flatbread dough and set the cauliflower to cook in the morning just before I settled myself into my make shift workstation made out of an armchair and an impractically skinny ornamental console table from the hallway. The morning rumbled on slowly, but smelling my gloriously fragrant cauliflower cooking got me through it. When it came out 2 hours later I had just enough time to squeeze some lemon, and grate some garlic into the yoghurt sauce, and throw my flat breads on the grill before settling down to unashamedly eat my feast on camera at a tax webinar that I understandable paid zero attention to. Flavourful, tender and comforting, this whole roast cauliflower recipe makes my day every single time I cook it.

Recipe

Spiced Slow Roast Whole Cauliflower

Roast Cauliflower

• Cauliflower (any size works but cooking time will need to be adjusted)

• 3 tablespoons olive oil

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon garlic powder

• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika

• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric

• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

Lemon and Garlic Yoghurt

• 300 grams greek yoghurt

• juice and zest of half a lemon

• 1 small garlic glove grated

• pinch of salt

• sumac to garnish

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees (fan) and prep your cauliflower by removing the leaves and cutting the stem down so the cauliflower can sit nice and flat in a ceramic casserole dish (dutch oven). Keep the leaves for later.

2. In a small bowl or mug, mix the olive oil, salt and spices with a fork until combined. Using a pastry brush, paint the cauliflower with the spiced oil and set in a casserole dish. Toss the leave in any leftover spiced oil and set aside for later

3. Bake for an hour and a half to 2 hours with the lid off until the outside forms a dark brown crust and the inside is cooked through and can be penetrated easily by a fork. If the outside is getting too dark and looks like it may burn before the inside is cooked, simply cover the dish in foil for the remainder of the cooking. Around !0 minutes before the cauliflower is cooked, add the leaves into the pot so they can get nice and crispy.

4. To make the yoghurt sauce, place the yoghurt in a small bowl and add the lemon juice, grated garlic and a pinch of salt. If the yoghurt is thick, add a few spoons of water to thin it down to a sauce consistency that coats the back of a spoon.

5. to serve, spread the yoghurt sauce on the base of your serving dish. and top with the baked cauliflower and leaves. Drizzle the oil from the roasting pot over the yoghurt and swirl with a spoon. sprinkle on some sumac, add flat breads on the side and enjoy.