By now many of you will be aware of how much of a Jamie Oliver fan I am. I love how unpretentious his recipes are. Every recipe can be made at home, although sometimes you may need rather special ingredients (at least out in Hong Kong they’re special) and certain equipment (if you want fresh pasta to be rolled out properly).

I also spoke about how I wanted to decrease my meat consumption, in order to have a lesser impact on the environment. So, I’ve been buying a lot of veggies and trying out new recipes with them.

While I’d been flicking through my two new Jamie cookbooks, I noticed so many delicious vegetable meal or recipe options. One that stood out for me was this harissa-coated roast cauliflower.

I love harissa, both the paste and the ground spices, so it felt like an ideal situation. The only thing I really had to fork out for was the pomegranate. They’re not easy (or cheap) to come by, but man it made it so worth it.

Now I know a lot of people have different ideas about what to do with cauliflower – make it into rice, or mash, or don’t eat it at all. But I love cauliflower as it is – without the need to pretend that it’s something else. This was a perfect way to really enjoy cauliflower in all its glory, with some delicious seasoning.

Jamie Oliver has a similar recipe on his website for a Christmas-themed roasted cauliflower, but the basic idea is the same. While in the recipe on his website he uses thyme, lemon, garlic and paprika, in his 5 ingredients recipe he uses rose harissa paste, natural yoghurt and pomegranate juice.

After roasting for an hour and 20 minutes (or until soft), you baste the cauliflower in the jucies from the pan (having roasted the cauliflower in a small pan or roasting tin, in 100ml of water) and then stick it back in the oven again for 10 minutes.

When it’s done, you need to baste the cauliflower one more time and then sprinkle with dukkah while it’s still sticky.

The harissa and the dukkah make an incredible combination and flavour the cauliflower really well.

I would have this cauliflower as a side to so many meals, or as a main dish with some accompaniments. I ate mine with piri piri salt roasted chicken. Scrumptious!

Until next time, dear readers.