Vegetarian cauliflower shawarma

Name: Vegetarian cauliflower shawarma
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 60 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Middle Eastern
Ingredients: 1 head Cauliflower, broken into large florets; 400 g Chickpeas, cooked and drained; 75 ml Olive oil; 30 ml Lemon juice; 4 Garlic cloves, grated; 2 tsp Ground cumin; 2 tsp Sweet paprika; 1 tsp Ground coriander; 1 tsp Ground turmeric; 1 tsp Ground allspice; 0.5 tsp Cayenne pepper; 1.5 tsp Fine sea salt; 150 ml Tahini sauce; 80 g Pomegranate seeds; 30 g Flat-leaf parsley and mint, chopped; 1 tsp Sumac, to finish; 4 Flatbreads, to serve

Whole roasted cauliflower florets in the full shawarma spice treatment — deeply browned, tender inside, and finished with tahini, pomegranate and herbs. It holds its own next to the meat versions rather than apologising for itself.

60 min totalmildeasy

Instructions

1
Heat the oven to 220°C with a heavy baking tray inside. A preheated tray gives the florets an immediate sear on contact.
2
Whisk the olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, cumin, paprika, coriander, turmeric, allspice, cayenne and salt into a loose paste.
3
Pat the cauliflower and chickpeas thoroughly dry, then toss both through the spice paste until evenly coated and glowing orange.
4
Spread everything cut-side down on the hot tray in a single layer. Crowding is the main reason home-roasted cauliflower goes soggy — use two trays if you need to.
5
Roast 20 minutes without touching it, so a proper crust forms on the underside.
6
Turn the florets, shake the chickpeas loose and roast a further 15-20 minutes until the edges are almost black in places and the stems yield to a knife.
7
Taste while hot and correct the salt and acid — roasted cauliflower absorbs more of both than you expect.
8
Pile onto warm flatbreads or a platter, spoon over the tahini sauce, and scatter with pomegranate, herbs and sumac. Serve straight away while the edges are still crisp.

Notes

Dry cauliflower is the whole game: wash and dry it well ahead, or skip washing and just trim. The chickpeas are optional but they add the protein that makes this a main rather than a side. Leftovers reheat well at 200°C for 8 minutes; the microwave ruins them.

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