A few years ago, we did a wonderful road trip in California, starting from San Francisco and following Route 1 all the way to LA. At the beginning of our trip, we spent a late afternoon in Sonoma, a lovely small town in the middle of wine country. The weather was rainy and it was getting dark. We found, totally by chance, an amazing restaurant called The Girl and the Fig. The place was full and they did not have a table for us, however, they let us stay in their lounge area, full of comfortable chesterfield sofas and small coffee tables. There we had the best dinner of our Californian adventure: simple, farm to table food served in a very casual way.
Last year, when I heard that Sondra Bernstein, the Girl and the Fig chef, was going to make a cooking class at De Gustibus, I registered in memory of that wonderful evening. I was not disappointed: the meal was lovely, and she prepared the best cauliflower cream I had ever tasted. I tweaked it a little bit to make it faster and easier to prepare, and also more like a soup than a vegetable side, but it really all depends how thick you want it to be. The roasted cauliflower florets make it really special and tasty.
Ingredients (serves 6):
1 large head cauliflower or 2 small ones, cut in 1-inch florets (you can also use Romanesco or a combination of both)
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup milk
6 tbsp grated Parmigiano cheese
1 pinch nutmeg
Olive oil
Preheat the oven to 450F.
Prepare the roasted cauliflower:
Reserve 1/2 cup of the caulifower florets and cut in tiny pieces. Set the rest (florets and stems) aside for the cream. Put the small florets on a baking sheet covered with aluminum foil. Sprinkle some olive oil, salt and pepper, toss it all together. Roast for about 15 minutes in the oven, until the cauliflower has browned on the edges. Remove from the oven and set aside.
Prepare the cream:
In a large saucepan, heat the milk, cream, cheese, nutmeg and reserved cauliflower over medium heat. Add some water, depending on how thick you want the cream to be. For a creamy soup consistence, add water so that the liquids are at the same level as the vegetables. Season with salt and pepper to taste and simmer until the cauliflower is fully cooked, about 20 minutes. Puree until smooth.
To finish, pour the cream into individual cups and add the roasted cauliflower on top.
