Roasted Cauliflower with Sesame and Pickled Onions

Ingredients for 2-4

A pinch of salt, richness of fat, sweetness and that much needed tang of sour. Thinking about these flavours is the gateway to this dish. Understanding where the richness of the tahini needs vinegar to cut through, how the sweet sharpness of the onion gets enhanced by the seasoning of salt. It just comes down to balancing the elements.

As a way of cutting down on time and getting flavour into this recipe and indeed many other simple dishes, like baked fish, pan fried chicken, even omelettes,  I often make condiments, pickles and sauces and keep them in the fridge, for a jazzy side, a peppy sauce, or a fresh drizzle

As a long term fan of the pickle, I have taken to making large batches of pickled onion, cabbage, fennel, ginger – sometimes pickled alone, other times all in one mason jar – and promptly forgetting about them in a fridge.

Since I am such a big fan of pickles. I will be bringing you a selection of recipes this winter, using Sarson’s new Pickle in 15 Minutes – a quick pickling vinegar, you can simply pour over your fruit and veg,  to add extra flavour to your dishes. To make these pickles the only effort is chopping, or mandolin-ing. You can also add extras like coriander seeds, peppercorns, bay leaves, if you fancy.

For the sesame sauce, its a sort of conflation of tahini and garlic sauce into one. You can of course use ready made tahini if you prefer, but I recommend toasting sesame seeds and doing it the slightly longer way, so you get that robust complexity of flavour.

For the Pickled Onions

• 300ml pickling vinegar, I used Sarson’s ‘Pickle in 15 Minutes’ Lightly Seasoned vinegar blend
• 6 black peppercorns (optional)
• 2 large red onions

For the Sesame Sauce

• 70g/ 1/2 cup sesame seeds, untoasted
• 70g/ 1/2 cup sesame seeds, toasted
• 200ml just boiled water
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 clove garlic
• 2 teaspoons pickling vinegar, I used Sarson’s ‘Pickle in 15 Minutes’ Lightly Seasoned vinegar blend

For the Cauliflower

• 1 medium head cauliflower, leaves pulled off
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seed oil
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon smoked garlic powder (you can use plain also)
• 1 teaspoon sea salt