Η συνταγή και στα ελληνικά στο τέλος της ανάρτησης!
As a child, I was a very bad eater. I was so thin my mom was always afraid of my health. With this in mind, I will tell you a very funny incident that happened to me many years ago.
I was about four years old and we were travelling in the northern part of Greece for Christmas. Back in the 70’s my mom was unable to find decent clothes in my very thin size and so she taught herself to sew. She made some really nice things for me back then. One of them and I remember it quite well, was a red cape with a white fur collar, matched with a rounded red hat with a white pom-pom on top. I have pictures of this outfit and I must say I was quite cute looking like the Red Riding Hood.
Anyway, one night we were visiting Panorama in Thessaloniki (you can find more details about the place and a recipe here) where the wind blows really strong and I was wondering around admiring the view. In a moment a strong gust of wind started to blow and somehow the wind sneaked underneath my cape transforming me into a mushroom. I felt like lifting and indeed I started walking like a ballerina in my tiptoes. My mom saw me and screamed to my dad, who immediately ran and grabbed me. I am telling you, if it wasn’t for him, I would have flown in the skies like Mary Poppins. That thin and light weighted I was!
I hated broccoli and cauliflower. I didn’t want to hear anything about tomatoes and flat beans. I refused to even discuss about artichoke and asparagus. Literally, I grew up with milk and eggs. I gave my poor mom a very hard time indeed!
Cauliflower back then, was not an option for me. The stupid thing was, that I didn’t even try them out to see if I liked them or not. I was making my decision only by their looks. Things started to change as I was growing up and the biggest change took place when I went to the US to study and had to live by myself. I had to cook my own meal and because of my reminiscence of homemade food, I started cooking meals I have never tried in my life.
Cauliflower was one of them. I can only tell you one thing, I love it! I can eat it in any way you like. When I saw a recipe in Saveur for roasted cauliflower with cumin, I immediately jumped to the idea. I thought of combing it with pasta and I had a vase of tahini on my counter crying for attention. Couple of years ago I saw a pasta dish with tahini sauce in a Greek magazine and with that in my mind I decided to combine both these dishes.
It is a very unique meal packed with controversial flavors. The cauliflower comes out bold with the addition of cumin and paprika, while the pasta has a sweet, earthy, light flavor from the tahini and the honey. We really enjoyed it and this pasta dish is definitely a meal I will make again. Also, if you don’t want to make pasta, you can have the cauliflower on its own as a salad. It is absolutely perfect!
- 1 cauliflower head, cut in small bouquets
- ⅓ cup olive oil
- 1 tsp cumin
- ½ tsp paprika
- 1 tsp salt
- ¼ to ½ tsp pepper
- ¼ tsp onion powder
- 500 gr. spaghetti
- 1 cup tahini
- 6 tsp honey
- 2 to 3 garlic cloves, minced
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 1 to 1 ½ cup water
- Sesame for sprinkling
- Preheat oven to 250° C / 500° F.
- In a bowl mix the olive oil, cumin, paprika, salt, pepper and onion powder.
- Place a parchment paper on a large pan and scatter the cauliflower bouquets.
- Sprinkle with the olive oil batter to cover all of them.
- Bake for about 25 minutes or until they start becoming soft.
- In the meantime prepare the tahini sauce by combining all the ingredients in a bowl and put it aside.
- Boil the pasta according to your liking.
- Drain the pasta and pour the tahini sauce over it.
- Mix until it goes everywhere.
- Serve in separate dishes and top them with the roasted cauliflower.
- Sprinkle some sesame seeds on top.
- 1 μέτριο κουνουπίδι, κομμένο σε μικρά μπουκέτα
- ⅓ φλ. ελαιόλαδο
- 1 κ.γ. κύμινο
- ½ κ.γ. πάπρικα
- 1 κ.γ. αλάτι
- ¼ έως ½ κ.γ. πιπέρι
- ¼ κ.γ. σκόνη κρεμμύδι
- 500 γρ. σπαγγέτι
- 1 φλ. ταχίνι
- 6 κ.γ. μέλι
- 2 έως 3 σκελίδες σκόρδο, λιωμένο
- Χυμό από 1 λεμόνι
- 1 έως 1 ½ φλ. νερό
- Σουσάμι για το πασπάλισμα
- Προθερμαίνετε το φούρνο στους 250° C.
- Σε ένα μπολ ανακατέψτε το ελαιόλαδο, το κύμινο, την πάπρικα, το αλάτι, το πιπέρι και το κρεμμύδι σε σκόνη.
- Τοποθετήστε ένα αντικολλητικό χαρτί σε ένα μεγάλο ταψί και σκορπίστε το κουνουπίδι.
- Πασπαλίστε με το ελαιόλαδο για να καλυφθούν όλα τα κομμάτια.
- Ψήστε για περίπου 25 λεπτά ή μέχρι να αρχίσουν να μαλακώνουν.
- Στο μεταξύ ετοιμάστε τη σάλτσα από ταχίνι συνδυάζοντας όλα τα υλικά σε ένα μπολ και βάλτε το στην άκρη.
- Βράστε τα ζυμαρικά σύμφωνα με τις προτιμήσεις σας.
- Ρίξτε τη σάλτσα από ταχίνι στα ζεστά ζυμαρικά και ανακατέψτε μέχρι να πάει παντού.
- Σερβίρετε σε χωριστά πιάτα και πάνω τους βάλτε το ψητό κουνουπίδι.
- Σκορπίστε λίγο σουσάμι από πάνω.
