Rosé – Rahorst Roasted Cauliflower with Feta, Dates and Nuts
One of our favorite chefs (and people in the world) is Michaela Rahorst, who we first met as Chef de Cuisine at Frances Restaurant in San Francisco. Michaela then moved to Del Popolo in San Francisco. Del Popolo arguably makes the best upscale pizza in the Bay Area, which is saying a lot. Michaela is a master of vegetables and the combination of elevated pizza and unbelievable wood-fired vegetable dishes has made Del Popolo one of our “how do we not try to eat there every night” sort of place.
This recipe is a streamlined version of what Michaela produces at a fine dining level. This recipe is easy to pull off and a crowd-pleaser.
Our Rosé, with it’s full dollop of fruit and balanced acidity plays off the savory and sweat elements of this dish perfectly.
Ingredients
- 2 heads of cauliflower cut into florets (or make it easy and purchase two bags of pre cut florets)
- 8-10 pitted dates, chopped into 1/4 inch pieces
- 1/2 Cup Pecans
- 8 oz. sheep's milk Feta (sometimes called Bulgarian Feta).
Directions
Oven at 400 degrees
Drizzle 2 to 3 tablespoons of olive oil over the cauliflower and then use your hands to mix/coat
Sprinkle a tablespoon of sea salt over the cauliflower
Roast for 20 minutes
Place pecans on an oven proof pan/sheet and have them join the cauliflower in the oven to roast for 6 minutes. Pull from oven, let cool for 5 minutes and then roughly chop.
Take half of the Feta and blend it with a couple tablespoons of warm water to make it a creamy texture (in a blender or with an immersion blender).
Once the Cauliflower is roasted, remove and put into a bowl. Add the chopped pecans, dates and creamy feta. Mix all ingredients and crumble remaining feta on top.
Serve
***You could skip the step of blending the feta with water and move the cauliflower into a bowl immediately after taking out of the oven and then crumble all of the feta over the hot cauliflower and mix – the heat will melt the feta. It won’t be the same texture as blending a portion of it with water, but you skip a step and some dishes and basically get the same flavor profile.