Roasted Cauliflower Gratin With Tomatoes and Goat Cheese Recipe (2024)

By Martha Rose Shulman

Roasted Cauliflower Gratin With Tomatoes and Goat Cheese Recipe (1)

Total Time
About 1 hour 10 minutes, plus 10 minutes cooling time
Rating
5(4,666)
Notes
Read community notes

Roasting is one of my favorite ways to prepare cauliflower, and I have always loved preparations that pair the vegetable with coriander seeds. I use coriander seeds and cinnamon to season the tomato sauce that I toss with the roasted cauliflower and sautéed red onions, then add a couple of eggs beaten with goat cheese.

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Ingredients

Yield:Serves 4 to 6

  • 1medium-size head of cauliflower
  • Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
  • 3tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 1small or ½ large red onion, cut in half or quarters (if using a whole onion) lengthwise, then sliced thin across the grain
  • 2garlic cloves, minced
  • 1teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
  • 1(14 8/10-ounce) can chopped tomatoes in juice
  • teaspoon cinnamon
  • ½teaspoon coriander seeds, lightly toasted and coarsely ground
  • 2eggs
  • ounces soft goat cheese (about ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons)
  • 2 to 3teaspoon chopped chives

Ingredient Substitution Guide

Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)

179 calories; 13 grams fat; 4 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 6 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 11 grams carbohydrates; 4 grams dietary fiber; 5 grams sugars; 8 grams protein; 547 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Roasted Cauliflower Gratin With Tomatoes and Goat Cheese Recipe (2)

Preparation

  1. Step

    1

    Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment or foil. Cut away the bottom of the cauliflower stem and trim off leaves. Cut cauliflower into ⅓ inch thick slices, letting the florets on the edges fall off. Toss all of it, including the bits that have fallen away, with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, salt, and pepper. Place on baking sheet in an even layer.

  2. Step

    2

    Roast for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring and flipping over the big slices after 8 minutes, until the slices are tender when pierced with a paring knife and the small florets are nicely browned. Remove from oven and cut large slices into smaller pieces. You should have about 2 cups. Transfer to a large bowl. Turn oven down to 375 degrees.

  3. Oil a 1-½ to 2-quart baking dish or gratin. Heat remaining oil over medium heat in a medium-size skillet or a wide saucepan and add onion. Cook, stirring, until tender, about 5 minutes. Add a generous pinch of salt and the garlic and thyme and continue to cook, stirring, until garlic is fragrant, 30 seconds to a minute. Add tomatoes, cinnamon, ground coriander seeds, and salt and pepper to taste and bring to a simmer. Cook, stirring often, over medium-low heat, for 10 to 15 minutes, until the tomatoes have cooked down and the sauce is fragrant. Taste and adjust seasoning. Add to bowl with the cauliflower and stir everything together. Scrape into prepared baking dish.

  4. Step

    4

    Set aside 2 tablespoons of the goat cheese. Beat eggs, then add the remaining cheese and beat together until smooth. Pour over cauliflower mixture, making sure to scrape out every last bit with a rubber spatula. Dot top with small pieces of the remaining goat cheese and sprinkle on chives.

  5. Step

    5

    Bake 30 minutes, until top is beginning to brown in spots. Remove from oven and allow to sit for 5 to 10 minutes before serving.

Tip

  • Advance preparation: Both the roasted cauliflower and the tomato sauce will keep for a couple of days in the refrigerator. The finished gratin will also keep for a couple of days. Reheat in a medium oven.

Ratings

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4,666

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Private Notes

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Cooking Notes

Chris

So....I have a confession. Not a goat cheese fan. What else would work in this recipe, ya think?

Tim Murtaugh

Super delicious! Next time I will up the tomatoes and cheese a bit, maybe even an extra egg, as the cauliflowers I find are usually fairly large and the more of this there is the better.

A note on the recipe: A half a cup of soft goat cheese is about 4 ounces, not 2½ like the recipe says. Go with the half a cup, don't cut it down to 2½ ounces.

eric b

At the point when it's time to add the tomatoes and spices, I prefer to add the spices to the onion, garlic, thyme mixture in the pan, then stir the resulting paste around 30 seconds or so, to further wake them up. Then I add the tomatoes and proceed

Gregory Hess

If you use a "normal" sized cauliflower (they're all the same large-ish size at my grocery store) and a 26 oz can/box of tomatoes that you normally have in your pantry, up the eggs to 4 and the cheese to about 6 oz. I cooked down extra onions (3 vidalias) to light brown, then added the spices to the onions, then combined with the tomatoes, added a hunk of butter (a la Hazan,) two Parmesan rinds and two bay leaves and let that simmer about half an hour.

Mark R

I made one further change to this dish, and now I think I have it the way I will always make it. Instead of dots of goat cheese on top, I'm using shredded parmesan. It bakes much better and spreads evenly. I now put in an entire bunch of spinach, and use a lot of breadcrumbs - covering the entire top of the dish pretty much. (I still use the goat cheese for the part that gets beaten in with the eggs; I just don't use goat cheese for the topping). Tastes great!

Leslie J

I sort of combined this with Martha's other cauliflower gratin. Roasted the cauliflower with about 6 chopped cloves of garlic. Also roasted a pint of cherry tomatoes. Combined everything with about 1/2 c grated Parmesan/Romano mixed with 2 eggs, 12 cut up black olives, a cut-up onion sauteed with a shake of red pepper flakes and another shake of oregano, then roasted. Yum.

Mari

Quick version with less mess and less washing-up: Roast the cauliflower (in florets, not slices) with oil in the gratin dish. Make the tomato sauce in a saucepan. Add the cauliflower to the tomato sauce in the saucepan and mix. Add cauliflower/tomato mixture back into the gratin dish. Pour over egg/cheese mixture and add topping of choice (I added a mix of breadcrumbs and grated Parmesan)… no baking sheet or bowl involved, two fewer things to wash up!

Kelly

Will keep 2 days? Seriously?Vegetable dishes will easily last until you eat them if properly refrigerated (7-10 days). Freeze half for later if quantity is too much. Stop wasting food, especially delicious food!

Mark R

Made this again with a few changes. First, I eliminated the cinnamon which, even the 1/8 tsp., overpowers the dish. Second, I added spinach. I washed and stemmed the leaves and then mixed it in with the roasted cauliflower and tomato sauce before pouring the mixture into the baking dish. This added a really nice flavor. Third, I added breadcrumbs to the top of the dish before baking, which provided nice texture. (And I use 4 oz goat cheese, not 2 1/2, with all but 2 tbsp going in with the eggs.)

Petra

This was really good, and I'll definitely make it again. I didn't carefully read the instructions on using a 1-1/2 to 2-quart dish and assumed that the picture showed a regular 9x13 baking dish, which I then used. That was definitely too big! With the right sized baking dish this will be perfect.

Mary

This is such a tasty dish! Because I like a little heat, and cauliflower+tomato seems a little bland, I added crushed red pepper flakes to the onion-garlic-spice-tomato mixture.

I also mention that the recipe seems more complicated than it is, in case anyone hesitates to try it. Try it! It's delicious!

Marie

Very good - as my family doesn't care for goat cheese, I subbed in ricotta. I also added a little cayenne to 'punch' it up a little. Will definitely make it again.

Bernice Glenn

I love cauliflower and am always on the lookout for a new way to prepare. This one sounds good, but instead of cinnamon seasoning, I would use an anchovy or two mixed in with the olive oil. Also. I wouldn't mix the goat cheese in with the cauliflower ingredients, but use all of it for the topping. That way, you get the tastes of each, blending in your mouth, but each somewhat separate.

JP

This was delicious. I used fresh grape tomatoes instead of canned and added them to the onion/garlic mixture to cook down. I also added chili pepper flakes and more garlic b/c I love garlic. I can take or leave cinnamon though and next time will leave it out.
Really delicious! Yum.

Jeremy

Deb! You're seeing canned tomatoes in recipes 'cause Chefs and home cooks alike LOVE cooking with canned tomatoes -- especially with impossible-to-find-fresh types like San Marzano.Canned tomatoes, when cooked, are often superior to fresh tomatoes 'cause they're canned at their peak ripeness with salt -- and this combo allows their flavors to intensify. I'd recommend getting canned WHOLE tomatoes (which are peeled!) rather than chopped, and crushing them yourself.

Jill

I made this tonight subbing ricotta and grated pecorino for the goat cheese. It made for a very tasty dinner with a warm baguette. Perhaps less complex than goat cheese but I highly recommend it. Next time I might add some breadcrumbs for crunch.

Therese

Another commenter thinks this should last much longer than a couple of days, because it is vegetables - but remember there is egg in this, too.

mark's emails

I don't know where to buy a 14 8/10-ounce can of tomatoes so I used a 14 1/2 ounce can.

Lisseth

Cooks two heads of cauliflower, used 3 eggs and subbed the goat cheese with Feta. Delicious!

fn

Very good. I made it as written with very minor changes. I had some grape tomatoes on hand so I added that to the cauliflower florets. No need to slice the cauliflower and cut it smaller later. I also added some panko on top before baking. I love the cinnamon in the sauce, reminiscent of Greek pastit*io. It was a good side dish instead of potatoes for my prime rib dinner.

Barbara P

My guy loved this, even the leftovers from the dinner party I brought it to. Having read the notes, I roasted 1 1/2 heads of cauliflower, used a 26oz can of San Marzano tomatoes & twice as much goat cheese. The flavors blended together deliciously.

GPC

It looked and read beautifully as a recipe, but it was a lot of work, for a very mediocre side. I might be missing something?

Tish

My family loved this. I had to use dried coriander because that’s all I had. I think I used a tad too much and even with the tiny amount of cinnamon, I think I’ll skip that next time. I was worried about how much salt - worried it would be too salty. It wasn’t. As someone others suggested, I also added Parmesan - some right in with the eggs and goat cheese and some on top with panko. This will go into our regular rotation.

Sarah

A+++ We loved it. I altered the recipe slightly based on others comments. I used fresh cherry tomatoes quartered, left out the cinnamon, and used grated parmesan on the top instead of goat cheese. Next time I would use parmesan or mozzarella in with the egg mixture and leave out the goat cheese. It feeds about 3-4 people as an entree.

Chris

Excellent. Use large cauliflower, double tomatoes, herbs (except cinnamon), and onion; up goat cheese to 6 oz., use parm and bread crumbs on top with lots of chives.

jeepy

Easy and fine but I did not love the heavy tomato flavor with the cauliflower. Wouldn’t make again.

Stacy S

Roasting the cauliflower is a must giving a depth of flavor. Delicious and easy to pull together. Decided to use Garam masala to save time roasting the coriander. May add mushrooms next time for an additional texture.

Very good - made slight modifications

I followed other’s suggestions. I doubled the goat cheese and then I mixed the goat cheese mixture into the cauliflower. I then put panko and Parmesan on top. Delicious.

Marc Kagan

Goat cheese allergy in my family - I used feta and it seemed to turn out fine.

Jesnne

Not great. Too tomatoie. No bad just nothing to make you want to make it again.

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Roasted Cauliflower Gratin With Tomatoes and Goat Cheese Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Why does cauliflower cheese go watery in the oven? ›

Cauliflower cheese can go watery if the cauliflower is overcooked. Overcooked cauliflower releases water, which will seep into the rest of the dish. So even if your sauce was thick when it went in the oven, if its in there too long, the water from the cauliflower will cause it to go watery.

Why is my cauliflower au gratin watery? ›

The watery problem happens when the cauliflower is either overcooked or not drained well enough after a quick blanching.

Why is my roasted cauliflower mushy? ›

Roasted Cauliflower Cooking Prep

First, grab a baking tray large enough for the cauliflower to sit in a single layer. Overcrowding the baking tray will result in mushy and not evenly cooked cauliflower. Choosing a proper cooking fat ensures roasted cauliflower goodness.

What happens when you add lemon juice to water when cooking cauliflower? ›

Keep The Cauliflower White. The pigments in white vegetables like cauliflower and onions will stay white with the addition of an acid such as lemon juice to the cooking water (as long as they are not overcooked).

Why does Cauliflower Cheese upset my stomach? ›

Cauliflower provides essential vitamins, minerals and nutrients, but it can also cause stomachaches or abdominal cramps. The culprit behind the stomachaches is cauliflower's fiber content, which becomes most troublesome when you increase your fiber intake too rapidly without giving your body time to adjust.

How to stop cheese sauce from splitting in the oven? ›

Likewise, if you're making a sauce in the oven, use low heat. Egg yolks are often used as a thickening agent in sauces, but if you cook them for too long at too high a temperature, the proteins will start to denature and form curds. Flour has similar properties, especially if it's not cooked in butter first.

How do you get the liquid out of cauliflower? ›

The trick with cauliflower is: Don't cook it till is too soft. just 4 or 5 minutes but taste to be sure. then drain into a colander, (sieve with big holes) and leave to drain for a few minutes, asking every minute. tap dry with a little kitchen paper or a clean tea towel.

Why is my cauliflower cheese hard? ›

Baking it, I find, has a tendency to overcook the cauliflower before the top browns. Adding the cheese sauce hot means there's no need for any further baking – the top will bubble and brown in minutes, before the cauliflower has time to soften any further.

Why isn't my roasted cauliflower crispy? ›

Like all veggies, cauliflower needs some breathing room on the pan. Otherwise, the florets will produce so much steam that they'll never turn crisp on the edges. It's better to use two pans, arranged on separate racks near the middle of the oven, than to cram too much onto one pan.

Why do you soak cauliflower before cooking? ›

If you're planning to roast the cauliflower whole or slice it into steaks, slice off the thick stem at the base. Drop the whole cauliflower head upside-down into cool, salted water. Let it soak for 10 to 15 minutes to remove dirt, residue and bugs.

Why does cooked cauliflower hurt my stomach? ›

Cruciferous vegetables like broccoli and cauliflower contain high levels of insoluble fiber, which can quickly lead to digestive upset, especially when consumed raw. Symptoms can include bloating, gas and cramping.

How to cook cauliflower Rachael Ray? ›

In a covered Dutch oven, heat the extra-virgin olive oil over medium to medium-high heat. Cut the core away from the cauliflower and set the head into the pot and add the stock. Cover and steam until tender, 12 to 15 minutes. Remove and separate the cauliflower into florets.

What does soaking cauliflower in milk do? ›

When blanching or cooking cauliflower, keep it white by adding 1 cup of milk. The milk will also give the cauliflower a sweeter flavor.

How healthy is roasted cauliflower? ›

It'll be on your veggie rotation in no time. Cauliflower is a cruciferous vegetable responsible for helping to reduce risk of cancer due to it's special antioxidant properties, anti-inflammatory effects, as well as it's high fiber content. It is also an excellent source of Vitamin C!

Why does my cheese sauce go runny in the oven? ›

Overcooking is the main reason cheese sauces split. The béchamel sauce only needs to be hot enough to melt the cheese, which you should add gradually, mixing gently until it is fully incorporated.

How do you keep cheese from getting watery? ›

Wipe the cheese dry, wrap in parchment or wax paper and place in an airtight container. Store in your vegetable drawer or if you have one, the shelf compartment specifically designed for cheese. This is a more temperature stable area and cheese seems to last better when placed here.

How do you make cauliflower mash less watery? ›

If you find that that the cauliflower you make is watery it's because you are not drying it out properly on the stove after it's boiled. The trick to the perfect cauliflower mash is to drain it really well and let that water evaporate in a pan on medium heat for 5-6 minutes before it's mashed.

How do you keep cauliflower from getting soggy? ›

"Be sure to give each floret a bit of room so that the they have space for airflow. I'd also recommend baking them on a silicone baking mat," says Blay. The edges will get much crispier than they would if you baked them on parchment paper.

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