Post in association with Breville
I seem to have become a bit obsessed lately with roasted cauliflower. Often when I’m pottering about in the mornings at the weekend, doing fun stuff like emptying the bins, I’ll chop up a cauliflower, pop it in the oven and then casually nibble a floret or two every time I go past.
GET ME.
(NB: an entire cauliflower is a bit much to eat all at once and can give you tummy ache.)
I just LOVE cauliflower so much though. If you ever want to impress me through the medium of roast dinner, then include a side of cauliflower cheese. That’s literally all you need to do.
When Breville got in touch recently then to ask if I fancied using the Breville Blend Active Accessory Pack to make my own hummus, I was like ‘Cauliflower? What?’ I had my roasting tray out before you could say ‘creamy cheese sauce’.
I’ve written before about the Breville Blend Active, when I came up with four unusual smoothie recipes, and the accessories pack works in combination with this to give you a whole load of extra features, including:
- a compact food processor
- a grinding mill
- a whipping disc (ooer)
- and a citrus juicer
Making your own hummus is actually super easy, and is one of those things that’s really versatile – you can make hummus out of pretty much anything, just by blending it up with a bit of garlic and tahini. Probably not ‘leftover pizza hummus’ or anything like that, but most vegetables work pretty well – peppers, peas, carrots, avocados, onions – the vegetable world is your hummussy oyster.
For my easy cauliflower hummus recipe, you will need:
- One cauliflower (I know size will vary but cauliflowers lately seem to be pretty small, unless I’m getting bigger.)
- Two cloves of garlic
- Cooking spray
- Salt and pepper
- 4 tbsp tahini
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- Parsley and smoked paprika to garnish
How to make roasted cauliflower hummus
First up, preheat your oven to around 180 degrees, then break your cauliflower up into florets. You might want to include some smaller pieces that can be used as a garnish. (Tip: check on these during the cooking – you might want to take them out earlier than the big chunks if they start to go too brown.)
Spread the florets out in a baking tray, along with your garlic cloves, which you can leave unpeeled. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and spray with a few squirts of cooking spray. You don’t need to drench them in oil.
Give the tray a bit of a shake and pop them in the oven for about 30 minutes.
(You might want to take a moment here to say the word ‘floret’ out loud to yourself a couple of times in a sexy voice, as it’s a rather lovely word.)
Once your roasted cauliflower has cooled down, pop it into the Breville Blend Active compact processor attachment along with the garlic, (skin removed), tahini, lemon juice and olive oil and blend. The compact processor attachment is actually pretty spacious, and packs a powerful punch. Be careful of the blades – don’t let their size deceive you into thinking they are anything other than VERY SHARP.
You might need to add a little bit of water to get the required consistency, but do this slowly so you don’t end up with runny hummus. No one needs runny hummus.
Garnish with your small pieces of cauliflower, some chopped parsley and a sprinkle of smoked paprika and you are good to go.
Serve with chopped raw vegetables or make you own pitta chips – simply split a pitta through the middle to get two thin halves, cut into slices or triangles, and pop into the oven on a greased baking try for the last ten minutes of your cauliflower cooking time.
Personalised spoon optional.
Find out more about the Breville Blend Active Accessory Pack here.
