Winter Vegetable Recipes: Cauliflower Puree and Baked Endives

CAULIFLOWER PUREE

Ingredients

Cauliflower. Photo by Muffet via flickr.

¼ cup kosher salt
¼ cup orzo pasta
1 large cauliflower, trimmed of its green leaves and cut into large florets; include the
core, cut into small pieces. (The cauliflower is going to be pureed, so don’t worry about the
shape of the pieces too much.)
4 tablespoons (2 ounces) sweet butter, softened
1 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper (black pepper will leave black dots)
Salt to taste

Method

1.    Bring 3 quarts of water to a rolling boil, add ¼ cup of salt, and allow the water to return to a boil. Add the orzo to the water, and boil for 5 minutes.

2.    Add the cauliflower stems and core, and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes until soft. Add cauliflower florets and cook all the ingredients until soft —another 5 to 10 minutes.

3.    Strain cauliflower and orzo through a colander, and place half of the vegetables and orzo in a food processor bowl. Add half the butter and pepper. Process for one minute, scraping down sides of bowl, until fully fluffy and creamy. Do not over process—the puree will become gummy. Taste for seasoning—you may want to add more salt.

BAKED ENDIVES

Ingredients

Preheat oven to 350F.
4 endives, cut in half lengthwise (Keep the core, but trim off the end; remove any brown leaves.)

Endive. Photo by by purpletwinkie via flickr.

2 tablespoons Kosher salt
4 tablespoons butter, melted (1/2 stick)
1 cup freshly made bread crumbs: use any kind of bread (it should be very dry or slightly stale), crust removed, and pulsed in the processor until crumbly.  Or you can buy the bread crumbs; reduce amount to 2/3 cup.
1/2 teaspoon thyme leaves
zest of one lemon
Freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. Bring one quart of water to a boil.  Add salt and endives. Simmer about 3 minutes.

2. Drain endives and dry them slightly.

3. In a small roasting pan, butter the bottom of the pan, and mix the rest of the butter with the lemon zest and thyme, as well as the bread crumbs.

4. Lay the endives flat side down in the pan, and sprinkle the rounded sides evenly with the seasoned bread crumbs.

5. Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes, until the bread crumbs are browned. Sprinkle with freshly ground black pepper just before serving.