The classic chicken dish from “The Silver Palate” cookbook gets a modern remake with cauliflower and a sheet pan while retaining its sweet, sour and slightly spicy essence. Layer the cauliflower with onion, chile, olives, currants, capers and oregano, then toss it with oil and vinegar, sprinkle it with a little brown sugar and bathe it in white wine. To make the prep go faster, add the cauliflower, onion, serrano and garlic to the sheet pan as you chop them, rather than getting everything ready in advance. Serve with your favorite cooked grain.
Storage: Refrigerate for up to 4 days.
Ingredients
Servings: 4 (makes about 7 cups)
- One (2-pound) head cauliflower
- 1 medium yellow onion (8 ounces), halved and thinly sliced
- 1 serrano or jalapeño (optional), stemmed, seeded and chopped
- 3 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup pitted green olives, rinsed, drained and halved
- 1/3 cup dried currants (see Substitutions)
- 2 tablespoons drained capers
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon fine salt, plus more to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 bay leaves
- 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
- 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup dry white wine, such as pinot grigio (see Substitutions)
- 1/4 cup raw pine nuts (see Substitutions)
- Cooked grain, such as barley, rice or farro, for serving
Directions
Active:
30 mins|
Total: 1 hour
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Step 1
Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 450 degrees.
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Step 2
Quarter the cauliflower lengthwise, from crown to stem end, then remove the core of each piece at an angle. Use your hands or a knife to break apart the florets into bite-size pieces. Chop the upper part of the core into bite-size pieces; discard the end if it’s dry. Transfer to a large sheet pan.
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Step 3
Add the onion, serrano, garlic, olives, currants, capers, oregano, salt, pepper and bay leaves to the pan. Drizzle with the oil, then the sherry vinegar, and use your hands to toss and evenly coat everything. Spread the ingredients out on the pan, lifting the onions and currants toward the top as much as possible (without obsessing). Sprinkle with the brown sugar, then pour the wine into the pan, directing it mostly in between the cauliflower pieces.
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Step 4
Roast for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the cauliflower starts to turn golden in places.
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Step 5
Remove the sheet pan from the oven and scatter the pine nuts over the top. Carefully flip and stir the mixture, then spread out in the pan. Roast for another 5 to 10 minutes, or until the cauliflower is nicely browned and tender. Taste, and season with more salt as needed.
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Step 6
Transfer the cauliflower mixture to a large platter or individual plates, and serve with the grain of your choice.
Substitutions
Have access to Romanesco, the green, pyramid-shaped cousin of cauliflower? >> Use that instead.
Don’t like chiles? >> Omit the serrano or jalapeño.
Sherry vinegar >> white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar.
To make this alcohol-free >> use another 2 tablespoons vinegar plus 2 tablespoons water instead of the wine.
Currants >> raisins, chopped dried apricots or prunes.
Pine nuts >> pumpkin seeds, pistachios or slivered almonds.
Notes
If you’d like to serve this over roasted polenta planks (from a store-bought tube), brush them with oil and roast them on another sheet pan for the final 5 to 10 minutes of the cauliflower mixture cooking time.
