Dukkah Roasted Cauliflower

Cauliflower is not one of those things one usually fantasizes about when hungry. I mean, you don´t hear, ¨Oh, if only I had a big plate of cauliflower to make me feel better after such a crappy day!´ Don´t get me wrong. I like it. It is just that there is nothing interesting about it. So, when I finally got around to making this, I did not have so much enthusiasm for starting. This recipe is part of the Cookthebookfridays group which is dedicated to making all the recipes in David Lebovitz´s My Paris Kitchen . I knew it would be good but I did not expect to be overly impressed.

That goes to show how little I really know. I have discovered Dukkah and how it can take something kind of boring into something delicious.Not just delicious..something you could get a craving for!

So, what is dukkah? Dukkah is an Egyptian seasoning  that consists of nuts, seeds and spices. These include:

Sesame seeds

Cumin

Nuts such as taosted ground pistachios, almonds, (I used almonds) pine nuts, hazelnuts, cashews or macademia nuts

Coriander

Sea salt

Fennel

Dukkah is very easy to make and here are some instructions on how to make it. The instruction are from David Lebovitz´s website
Egyptian Spiced Nut Mix (Dukkah) 

From My Paris Kitchen: Recipes and Stories, by David Lebovitz (Ten Speed Press, 2014)

Makes 1½ cups (150g)

½ cup (50g) hazelnuts
1/3 cup (50g) sesame seeds
¼ cup (35g) hulled pumpkin seeds
2 tablespoons whole coriander seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
1½ teaspoons black peppercorns
1 teaspoon sea salt or kosher salt

1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC).
2. Spread the hazelnuts on a baking sheet and toast them for 8 to 10 minutes, until the nuts are lightly browned and most of the skins are loosened. Remove from the oven. When the nuts are cool enough to handle, rub them briskly in a kitchen towel to remove as much of the skins as possible. Put the nuts into a bowl.
3. Heat a skillet on the stove top over medium heat. Start with the sesame seeds, spreading them in an even layer in the pan and shaking or stirring them frequently, until they crackle and become lightly browned. Scrape them into the bowl with the hazelnuts. Then toast the pumpkin seeds, then the coriander, the cumin, and finally the fennel seeds in the same way, adding each to the bowl as it is done. Finally, toast the peppercorns. Most will take less than a minute. Add the salt.
4. Grind the nuts, seeds, and spices, in a mortar and pestle, with a spice grinder, or in the bowl of a mini food processor, working in batches if necessary, until the mixture is well ground together, but not too fine.
Dukkah will keep for about a month stored in an airtight jar at room temperature.

Variations: Use toasted almonds, peanuts, or cashews in place of the hazelnuts. Make a quick dip by stirring together ¾ cup (75g) of dukkah with 6 tablespoons (90ml) of olive oil in a small bowl.

Here is arecipe for roasting cauliflower. Follow the instructions but eliminate the spices in the recipe. Add the dukkah about 10 minutes before the aking time is finished.

⭐The roasting time can vary depending on the oven.

My husband was thrilled with this as well. Even he was stunned by how delicious it was.

So, what have I learned? Well, it is clear that I learned what dukkah is but I also learned to keep an open mind. A dish may not appear so ¨exciting¨but it does not mean that it won´t be wonderful.

Thank you to Karen for suggesting this as a recipe to make this month. And thank you to the lovely members of this group that make it so much fun!

Enjoy! xxxxNatascha