I’ll admit it… I don’t have company for lunch as much as I used to. One reason is, I don’t get out as much as I once did. And Sister Erin and I usually lunch at different times. But… When I do partake bigly, I like to make lunch something memorable…
And that may well be Ina Garten’s Cauliflower Toast. It’s quick, easy and requires a minimum of ingredients. The only picky element of the prep is sheet-pan roasting the Cauliflower in the oven…
Not typical Ina…
Disclaimer: I used to love watching Ian Garten on the Food Network – when I first discovered her show. But I got a little tired of her approach to cooking and entertaining after a while. Her whole approach was, frankly, not all that relatable to me.
I hesitate to employ the adjectives ‘prissy’ and ‘pretentious’ describing her show, and her ‘fussy de-tails’ manner. But her implication that every little lunch or snack is something ‘precious’ to behold, much less consume, cloys on my mental palate.
Nevertheless, I do love her food – particularly those little gems that require just a few ingredients and are truly new, creatively invigourating and just plain yummy…
Enter the Toast…
This is a billiard-ball sort of a concoction, originating in Ina’s Cook Like A Pro cook book, which was ‘mined’ extensively for recipes featured on Ina’s early The Barefoot Contessa TV cooking series. Which was named after Ina’s first cook book, which was named after Ina’s Long Island cooking specialty shop, which was named after the eponymously-titled 1954 Humphrey Bogart – Ava Grdener film romance…
All that having been said, the Cauliflower Toast is an unpretentious little gem that’s packed with flavour and as satisfying, filling and substantial as you want to make it.
What you need
For starters, you’ll need a sheet pan or cookie sheet large enough to hold the cauliflower florets in a single layer, not touching one another.
The ingredients are as follows:
- 1 small head cauliflower (2 lb. / 1 kg)
- 4 tbsp. good olive oil
- 1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
- Salt and pepper
- 12 oz. / 340 g Mascarpone cheese (at room temperature)
- 6 oz. / 140 g Gruyère cheese, grated
- 4 oz. / 115 g thinly sliced prosciutto, julienned
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 6 large slices country-style bread
- Paprika
- Freshly grated Italian Parmesan cheese
- 2 tablespoons minced fresh chives
Less fussy than it looks…
Looks complicated, but it’s not, really. Many of the ingredients fall under the category of ‘kitchen supplies / pantry staples you’ll already have on hand.
And you can substitute wherever the opportunity presents itself. For instance, any kind of thin-sliced ham will work. You can use any kind of cream cheese in place of the pricey Mascarpone. And you’ll enjoy experimenting with the bread component. I’ve settled on light rye!
Tips…
The red pepper flakes are optional. The paprika and nutmeg are NOT!
DON’T skip the cauliflower-roasting step. Otherwise, you’ll just have cheese-covered cruditées on toast. Too much crunch, there. A tough bite, in fact. And only a small fraction of the flavour you’ll get from roasting!
My take
Aside from roasting the cauliflower, this entire dish takes less than 10 minutes to put together and will set you up, both nutritiously and emotionally, for a great afternoon – no matter what you’re planning!
~ Maggie J.