Moroccan spiced cauliflower & pumpkin puree

This was me very adequately preppin' to bingewatch Stranger Things season✌️ last week. 

P.S: that Demogorgon controlling evil tornado totes looks like a Louise Bourgeois spider

P.P.S: look at this kid

ingredients

Serves two: 

Cauliflower & puree:

• 1 head cauliflower

• Half a small (400g) pumpkin, peeled

• 2 tbsp olive oil

• 1 tbsp garam masala

• pinch of cayenne

• 1 teasp cumin seeds

• 1 heaped teasp koriander seeds

• 2 cloves of garlic

• lemon juice

Salsa:

• 4 tbsp olive oil

• 1 tbsp red wine vinegar

• harissa paste

• 2 tbsp chopped preserved lemon

• 1 tbsp chopped firm green olives

• 1 tbsp chopped dried apricots

• 3 tbsp coarsely chopped parsley

+ some toasted shaved almonds, salt, pepper, food processor 

method

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Remove the outer leaves from cauliflower but don't cut any florets loose. Cut in half from top to bottom resting the cauliflower on its stem, creating two lobes. Cut two “steaks” of about 3 to 4 cm (measuring from the middle). Very coarsely chop remaining florets (you need 300 g) and cube the pumpkin flesh 400 g). I made the rest of the cauliflower and pumpkin into a soup, adding butter, ginger, onion, a very small clove of garlic and vegetable stock.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Combine olive oil, garam masala, cayenne, cumin and coriander seeds in a bowl and rub the cauliflower steaks with this mixture. 

Add about 300g of the cauliflower florets, 400g of pumpkin and two peeled cloves of garlic to the boiling salted water and cook until tender (about 10 min). For the salsa, combine all of the ingredients: olive oil, vinegar, harissa to taste (I used a little over half a teaspoon for a good kick), preserved lemon, olives, apricots, parsley and salt. Taste for salt and set aside.

Place the cauliflower steaks on a lined baking tray and put in the preheated oven for about 30 min (until tender and browned). Drain cooked pumpkin, cauliflower and garlic in a colander and let it dry out for a while (otherwise the puree will be too watery). Add salt, pepper and a good squeeze of lemon juice to brighten the taste and mix in a foodprocessor to a very fine puree. 

Get those plates out, give that scoop of pumpkin puree a good swirl and place the cauliflower steaks on top. Spoon the salsa over it and sprinkle with toasted shaved almonds. 

Moroccan spiced cauliflower & pumpkin puree