Cauliflower Puree with Chickpeas

When I'm craving an easy, cozy weeknight dinner, I make this cauliflower puree. I sprinkle it with capers, roasted chickpeas & fresh rosemary.

cauliflower puree & roasted chickpeas cauliflower puree & roasted chickpeas

This cauliflower puree might just be my last cauliflower post of the season. I’m trying to remind myself that it’s still March and many of you have snow on the ground. Or at least slush. Which is hard for me to comprehend because it suddenly became July here this week.

But last week, when it was a little bit cooler and cauliflower was still showing up at my door, we made this fancy little meal. Cauliflower, two ways… a light velvety puree, with roasted florets and chickpeas on top.

Cauliflower puree recipe ingredients


5.0 from 1 reviews

Cauliflower Puree with Chickpeas

 
Give this simple, healthy cauliflower puree an elevated feel by topping it with roasted chickpeas and cauliflower florets! Vegan and gluten-free.
Author:
Recipe type: Main dish
Serves: 2-3, scale accordingly
Ingredients
Cauliflower Puree:
  • 1 large cauliflower, broken into florets
  • 3 garlic cloves
  • ¼ cup vegan butter (or regular butter)
  • ½ cup chickpeas, cooked & drained
  • 1 tablespoon chopped rosemary
  • Squeeze of ½ to 1 whole lemon, plus some zest (to taste)
  • Sea salt and fresh black pepper
  • Milk or water to thin, or more chickpeas if necessary to thicken
Roasted chickpeas & cauliflower
  • 1½ cups cauliflower, broken into small florets
  • 1½ cups cooked (or canned) chickpeas, drained
  • Extra-virgin olive oil
  • Minced garlic
  • Sea salt and fresh black pepper
  • A few pinches chopped rosemary
Plate with:
  • A sprinkle of capers
  • An extra drizzle of olive oil
  • A few pinches of red pepper flakes
Instructions
  1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
  2. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to boil, boil 3 cups of the cauliflower florets until tender, about 10-20 minutes.
  3. While the cauliflower is boiling, start roasting the rest of the cauliflower and the chickpeas. Prep 2 baking sheets with foil. Separately toss the chickpeas and cauliflower with olive oil, garlic, rosemary, salt & pepper. (I do this right on the baking sheet). Roast both in the oven until golden brown, about 25-35 minutes, checking halfway through.
  4. Make the cauliflower puree: Drain the boiled cauliflower, and transfer to a high speed blender. Add the garlic, butter, ½ cup chickpeas, rosemary, lemon juice, salt, and pepper, and blend to form a smooth puree. Taste and adjust, adding more salt, pepper, and/or lemon as necessary. If yours is too thick, add some water or milk. If it's too thin, add some more chickpeas. The consistency should be thinner and lighter than hummus. (*note that I used a Vitamix. If you're using a regular blender yours might not be as smooth).
  5. Plate with a generous scoop of the puree and top it with the roasted cauliflower, chickpeas, a drizzle of olive oil, capers, a few small pinches of red pepper flakes, and another pinch of rosemary. And an extra squeeze of lemon if necessary.
Notes
You can make the cauliflower puree up to one day in advance. The texture might change overnight in the fridge, and you might want to blend it again just before serving.

 

32 comments

Leave a comment:

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Rate this recipe (after making it):  

  1. Nathan
    06.20.2020

    Maybe I’m the black sheep here, but blending raw garlic into the puree made it quite spicy, so much that it was unpleasant to eat. Did anyone else experience this? If I were to do it again, I would fry the garlic first before adding it to the puree. However I still like the idea of cauliflower puree with roasted chickpeas.

  2. Sally
    07.12.2017

    So so yummy – my 7-year old completely approves. I didn’t have enough chickpeas so I substituted cannellini beans in the puree and saved the roasted chickpeas as a topper. Perfect!

  3. Von
    07.03.2015

    This morning I was searching for new ideas for cauliflower, and chanced upon your site…and this recipe. I was going to make it for dinner but couldn’t wait and I’m currently nom-nom-nomming on it now! What a yummy recipe! I wish I could post the photo of what is the prettiest dish I’ve ever made. I added in some edamame beans too. I’ll be making this regularly!

    • jeanine
      07.04.2015

      I’m so glad you liked it! Ha, so funny that you couldn’t wait until dinner :).

  4. Violeta
    07.05.2014

    Just made this. Heaven! I couldn’t wait to eat it, I got my tongue burnt. Still delicious!

  5. Sian Therese
    08.13.2013

    Your photography is always stunning and this recipe is delicious – it has become a frequent rotation in my house (Winter here in Aus atm). Dad passed on a beautiful cauliflower from his garden and there was no better use for it then this recipe! You are a star!

  6. It’s like Xu Meng head fiercely poured cold water. Xu Union will be more deep resentment can imagine, he stared fiercely a full Feng Ting Liu Yiyi chest, eyes can not wait to dig into from the cleavage of the last helpless sigh, talk about a girlfriend so tired even point Consolation not give. Thanks to his endurance. Otherwise, early yellow.

  7. Mariela from tastyplan.com
    04.25.2013

    I love cauliflower! This is beautiful, cant wait to make and taste. Lovely blog.

A food blog with fresh, zesty recipes.
Photograph of Jeanine Donofrio and Jack Mathews in their kitchen

Hello, we're Jeanine and Jack.

We love to eat, travel, cook, and eat some more! We create & photograph vegetarian recipes from our home in Chicago, while our shiba pups eat the kale stems that fall on the kitchen floor.