I can’t really say enough about my love of romanesco (an Italian cousin of cauliflower). It’s bright hue, it’s bizarre tessellation of spirals within spirals within spirals, it’s burnt caramel by way of a potato chip flavor when roasted, all are good reasons to enjoy this obscure veg. Topped with some roasted salsa verde and parmiggiano, romanesco makes a lovely snack, side, or whatever you need it to be. Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS

2 large romanesco heads (or cauliflower, if romanesco is tough to find).

5 tomatillos

1 poblano chili

4 garlic cloves

Hot Sauce

A handful of cilantro

1/4 cup grated parm

Olive oil

Salt and Pepper

DIRECTIONS

Pre heat oven to 425 F. Clean the romanesco and slice into halves. Break off the florets, slicing the big ones in half. Coat with olive oil (2 tablespoons-1/4 cup, depending on how much romanesco you have) and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Pop in the oven for about 15 minutes, shake the pieces around, flipping them, and roast for another 10. You should think, “Oh crap I burnt it,” when you pull them out. But try it, the more caramelized and crispy the better. Meanwhile, peel and broil the tomatillos for about 5-10 minutes, or until charred and juicy. Char the poblano over an open flame, then scrape off the skin and deseed it. Chop it roughly and pop it, the tomatillos, the garlic, cilantro, and hot sauce in a food processor. Pulse it and taste for season. Drizzle it over the romanesco and top off with grated parm. Enjoy!