Blumenkohl mit veganer Hollandaise und Knusperkartoffeln (cauliflower with vegan hollandaise and crispy potatoes)
A whole roasted cauliflower head served with crushed, twice-cooked crispy potatoes and a cashew and turmeric hollandaise built to mimic the eggy richness of the real sauce without the tricky butter emulsion. Roasting the cauliflower whole rather than in florets gives a genuinely different result, a tender centre under a deeply caramelised, almost charred exterior.
Prep30 min
Cook60 min
Servings4
Christoph's whole roasted cauliflower with vegan hollandaise, the whole head roasted for a genuinely different result than florets.
Ingredients
Units
Temperature
Servings
Roasted cauliflower
- 1 whole cauliflower head, leaves trimmed, core left intact rounded
- 40 ml olive oil rounded
- to taste fine salt rounded
Crispy potatoes
- 700 g waxy potatoes, peeled, halved if large rounded
- 40 ml neutral oil rounded
- to taste fine salt rounded
Vegan hollandaise
- 100 g cashews, soaked in hot water 1 hour, drained rounded
- 150 ml water rounded
- 20 ml lemon juice rounded
- 20 g nutritional yeast rounded
- 2 g ground turmeric, for colour rounded
- to taste fine salt rounded
Dietary labels are a guide, not a guarantee. If you have an allergy, read the ingredients yourself.
Method
- Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil. Boil the whole cauliflower head for 8 minutes, until just starting to soften at the edges. Drain very well and let steam dry for a few minutes.
- Boil the potatoes in a separate pot of salted water for 12 minutes, until just tender. Drain and let steam dry, then crush each gently with the back of a fork or a glass, just enough to crack the surface without breaking them apart.
- Heat the oven to 200°C. Rub the cauliflower all over with olive oil and salt, place on a baking sheet, and roast 50 to 60 minutes, until a knife slides easily into the centre and the exterior is deeply caramelised.
- Toss the crushed potatoes with the neutral oil and salt, spread on a separate baking sheet, and roast for the last 35 minutes alongside the cauliflower, until deeply golden and crisp at the edges.
- Blend the cashews, water, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, turmeric and salt until completely smooth, at least 2 minutes.
- Slice the cauliflower into wedges and serve with the crispy potatoes and hollandaise.
Method in the Thermomix
Written for a TM5 or TM6, 2.2 litre bowl. This covers the hollandaise; roasting stays conventional.
- Drained cashews, water, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, turmeric and salt into the bowl. Blend 1 min / speed 9, until completely smooth.
Notes
- Par-boil the cauliflower whole before roasting. This shortens the roasting time and helps the centre cook through fully without the exterior burning before it does.
- Crush the boiled potatoes gently, cracking the surface without breaking them apart. The cracked surface is what crisps up dramatically in the oven; whole, uncrushed potatoes stay smooth and don’t crisp the same way.
- Blend the hollandaise thoroughly. A grainy sauce defeats the point of mimicking the silky original.
- The cauliflower and potatoes are best fresh from the oven; the hollandaise keeps for 3 days in the fridge.
Ingredient substitutions
- Cashews can be sunflower seeds, soaked the same way, for a nut-free hollandaise.
- Nutritional yeast adds a savoury, slightly cheesy depth; it can be reduced but not fully replaced.
- A little smoked paprika in the hollandaise is a good, non-traditional variation.
From Christoph Mayer