Cauliflower with Brown Butter and Crispy Crumbs

  • Level: Easy
  • Yield: 4 servings
  • Total: 38 min
  • Prep: 10 min
  • Cook: 28 min
Advertisement

Ingredients

1 medium head cauliflower (about 2 pounds), cut into bite-size florets

2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped

6 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt

1/3 cup fresh bread crumbs (see Know-How, below)

3 tablespoons minced fresh flat-leaf parsley

Freshly ground black pepper

Lemon wedges

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Put the cauliflower on a baking sheet and scatter the garlic on top. Melt the butter in a medium skillet and toss 2 tablespoons with the cauliflower and garlic; set the rest aside in the skillet. Toss the cauliflower with 1 teaspoon of the salt. Roast until the cauliflower is quite tender and the edges are starting to brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer the cauliflower to a serving bowl. 
  2. Reheat the remaining butter over medium-high heat until brown. Add the bread crumbs and cook, swirling the pan and tossing, until they are brown and crisp-this should take less than 1 minute. Pull the pan from the heat and toss the crumbs with the parsley and the remaining 14 teaspoon salt. Spoon crumbs over the cauliflower and season with pepper. Serve warm or room temperature with lemon wedges on the side. 

Cook’s Note

Sometimes it's the little things that can make the difference in a dish being spectacular or so-so-like using homemade bread crumbs versus store-bought. Crumbs made from quality bread are easy to make. Simply tear up bread, with or without the crusts, and grind it in a food processor-1 (2-ounce) slice makes about 1/2 cup of crumbs. If you want moist crumbs-as you do for this crispy topping-start with fresh, not stale, bread. Stale dry bread is better for crumbs used in stuffings or as a binder because the crumbs absorb more liquid.

Let's Get Cooking!

Sign up for the Recipe of the Day newsletter to receive editor-picked recipes,tips and videos delivered to your inbox daily. Privacy Policy

Thanks for subscribing to the Recipe of the Day newsletter. Check out all our other great newsletters from Easy Recipes, Healthy Eating Ideas and Chef Recipe Videos.

We're sorry, there was an error signing you up. Please try again later.

Advertisement

curiousinthekitchen

If you make this dish, don't roast the chopped garlic with the cauliflower -- 25 minutes in a 450 oven is too long and hot for little bits of garlic, and they will burn. I sauteed mine in the butter for a few minutes before adding the bread crumbs, and they added a nice mild garlic note to the crumbs. I also grated some lemon rind and tossed that in the crumbs at the end with the parsley, for a bit of "gremolata" effect. I think I will make this for Christmas, and may add some red pepper flakes for some additional color and a little kick.

See All Reviews