Samantha had planned to make my Turkish Cauli Pizza and couldn’t be bothered getting out her food processor (a feeling I know only to well!). So she creatively roasted the cauliflower and served it with spiced beef and a lemon tahini sauce.
It sounded so good, and inspired this little number which takes the simplicity one step further by turning the beef into meatballs and baking them in with the cauli instead of getting another pan dirty to brown the meat.
Love when inspiration comes from my students! Thanks Samantha!
While the cauli is cooking, season meat with the spices and a little salt. Roll into mini meatballs (or larger ones) about 1.5cm (1/2in) diameter.
WINE MATCH: A spicy red like Argentinian Malbec or Spanish Tempranillo.
5-ingredients / über simple - skip the parsley or the spice.
vegetarian - replace meatballs with cooked chickpeas, lentils, brown rice, barley or quinoa - just toss the cooked grains / legumes with the roast spiced cauli in the last 5 minutes of cooking. Pan fried halloumi or fried eggs are also great with spiced cauli and the tangy creamy sauce.
more substantial (carb lovers) - serve with warm pita, quinoa or brown rice. Tortillas will work too.
more substantial (low carb) - serve with roast hazelnuts, almonds or walnuts. Also good with pine nuts. You could also increase the tahini sauce.
more veg / different veg - slice an onion and add to the cauli at the beginning. Broccoli, diced eggplant, halved cherry tomatoes, sliced red capsicum (bell peppers) or zucchini will all work and take about the same amount of time as the cauliflower. Fab served on a bed of Winter greens or cooked kale.
no tahini - tahini is a paste made from sesame seeds. Substitute in cashew butter, almond butter or sunflower butter. Or season Greek yoghurt or coconut yoghurt with salt and pepper and use that as your sauce instead.
different spice - try curry powder or ground cumin + ground coriander.
Yes! Just roast cauli and meatballs as per the recipe but keep the sauce and parsley / salad separately. Will keep in the fridge for 2 weeks or can be frozen. To serve, warm cauli and meatballs in a large frying pan. Top with sauce and greenery.