Charred cauliflower steak with tahini, harissa honey sauce and preserved lemons

Even carnivores will relish sinking their teeth into these juicy, charred cauli steaks from Sabrina Ghayour's new Persian leaning cookbook, Feasts.

Difficulty easy
Cooking time less than 30 minutes
Serves 6

By Sabrina Ghayour, Honey kitchen

Ingredients

2 large cauliflowers
3 tablespoons rose harissa
4 tablespoons clear honey
1 tablespoon olive oil, plus extra for frying
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
4 tablespoons light tahini
6 tablespoons Greek yogurt (see note for vegan alternative)
good squeeze of lemon juice
Maldon sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper

To serve
6 preserved lemons, deseeded and thinly sliced into rounds
generous handful of toasted flaked almonds
½ small bunch (about 15g) of flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped

Method

1. Cut away any outer leaves from the cauliflowers, then cut each cauliflower into 4 slices of equal thickness. On the slices cut from the outer edges of the cauliflowers, trim and shave away enough of the curves to create flat surfaces, so that the slices cook evenly.

2. Combine the harissa, honey, olive oil and cinnamon in a small bowl, season with salt and pepper and mix well. Brush or rub the mixture over the cauliflower slices.

3. Drizzle a little oil into a large frying pan set over a medium heat. When the oil is hot, fry the cauliflower slices for 6–8 minutes on each side, or until they are cooked through and charred nicely on both sides. Blackening will occur as the spice paste is not only dark but also contains sugar (in the honey), which will burn naturally. This is part of the flavour of the dish and nothing to be worried about. (Alternatively, roast the cauliflower slices in a preheated oven, 220°C (200°C fan), Gas Mark 7, for 20–25 minutes.)

4. Meanwhile, mix the tahini with the yogurt and lemon juice in a bowl, season generously with salt, then stir in a little lukewarm water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the mixture has a sauce-like consistency.

5. Transfer the cauliflower slices to serving plates. Drizzle over the yogurt sauce and any remaining marinade, then scatter over the preserved lemon slices, toasted almonds and parsley to serve.

Tip:
To make this a vegan recipe, substitute coconut or soya yogurt for the Greek yogurt.