Roasted Cauliflower Burger With Goat’s Cheese Cream

Cauliflower is just amazing! Just as with all brassicas, you can do so much with it, but the best thing is to roast it or fry it in butter. When the delicious butter is absorbed into the crispy surface of the cauliflower and then reaches the soft flesh, the result is magical.

Makes 6 burgers

Ingredients
3 small cauliflower heads (the diameter must correspond to the size of the bun)
150g butter at room temperature
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the lemon oil
shaved peel of ½ lemon
100ml olive oil

For the goat’s cheese cream
200g creamy Norwegian goat’s cheese (preferably truffle-flavoured) or feta
200g crème fraîche
sea salt

To serve
6 burger buns
butter for the buns
1 tbsp coarsely crushed pink peppercorns
watercress
zest of ½ lemon

Method
Preheat the oven to 200°C/gas mark 6.

For the lemon oil, heat the lemon peel and olive oil in a small saucepan. Remove the saucepan from the hob when it starts to simmer and leave for about 10 minutes so the oil takes on the flavour of the lemon, then remove the lemon peel and put the oil to one side.

Trim the heads of cauliflower and rub in plenty of butter. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Transfer them to an ovenproof dish and bake for 10 minutes in the middle of the oven. Then reduce the heat to 150°C/gas mark 2 and bake for a further 30-40 minutes, until the cauliflower has taken on a golden colour and starts to soften. The florets should give if you press them gently, but they must not go too soft, otherwise the cauliflower won’t hold together when you cut it up.

Put the goat’s cheese into a bowl and mash it with a fork. Add the crème fraîche and stir to make a smooth cream. Add salt to taste.

Butter the buns on the cut surface and fry them quickly in a frying pan or grill them in the oven.

Cut the cauliflower into 1cm-thick slices and place two slices on each bun. Spread on a little of the goat’s cheese cream, sprinkle over some crushed pink pepper and add a little watercress. Drizzle lemon oil over it and finish by topping with a little lemon zest.

Extracted from Green Burgers by Martin Nordin (Hardie Grant, approx €17). Photography © Martin Nordin.