Rolling with everything: cauliflower goat cheese casserole

Today, ragazzi, we are going to be making a dish that ultimately, is simple.  Along the way, however, we are going to learn how to deal with "kitchen surprises" and also how to organize our time, and get things ready.  Now, if that doesn't sound pedantic, what does?  Trust Annalena: you will thank her at the end of this.

This is the time of year when Annalena starts casting her thoughts to holiday meals:  the biggies:  Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years.  So she looks for dishes that are both festive, and easy, and also work with what is seasonal.  Cauliflower will be with us for a while now, so it's a perfect choice.  And when Annalena saw a recipe from one of her favorite cooks, which also featured a festive note, of goat cheese, she thought this would be fun.

Ah, it was.  But along the way, there were, as they say among certain circles  "teaching moments."  And we will explore those as we cook.  At the end, you get what is at top.  Now, doesn't that convince you to try cauliflower?

So, we begin with the recipe and the ingredients.  It calls for  "1 medium cauliflower."
Ragazzi, do you HATE instructions like this as much as Annalena does?  What constitutes a "medium" cauliflower?  Do you know?  Annalena does not.    Indeed, you have to read through the recipe to find that, after several steps of it  "you should have 2 cups of roasted florets."

Do YOU know how much cauliflower you have to have, to get 2 cups of roasted florets?  Annalena doesn't.  Do YOU know how big a cauliflower you have to start with to get there?  Not she.  So, this is where we get to our first teaching moment.  Here is the cauliflower Annalena bought:

It's a biggun.   It was going to yield way more than 2 cups (By the way, ragazzi, do not fear the brown or black spots on cruciferous vegetables.  Perfectly normal) .  So, you have your cauliflower, and now you prep it, by cutting away the base, and then cutting the florets off.  Make them a nice even size, toward the small:

Toss them with two tablespoons of olive oil, some salt and some pepper, and get them into the oven at 450, for 15-20 minutes.  Stir them half way through.  This is what you get at the end:

While this is roasting, you can get a leg up on things, by making a quick tomato sauce.  To do this, slice two onions into half moons (again, the recipe was a bit nuts on this, saying "either one large onion or one and a half medium onions."  What do you do with the other half of an onion?), and mincing two cloves of garlic.  You will also need a pinch of ground cinnamon and about a half teaspoon , of ground coriander.   Coriander, ragazzi, works so well with cauliflower it should be required in each and every preparation.  Finally, a large (28 or 32 ounce) can of chopped tomatoes.  Or whole tomatoes that you break up with your fingers.   The original recipe called for - Annalena kids you not - "a 14.8 ounce can of tomatoes."  HUH????   Given the amount of cauliflower we have here, the big can is called for. 

Cook the onions in a tablespoon of olive oil, for just about 5 minutes, at medium low heat.   Then toss in the garlic, the spices, and the tomatoes.  Finally, you need a good hefty handful of fresh herbs:  Annalena used oregano rather than the thyme called for because - and pardon the pun, she was out of thyme.  This all goes into the pan with the onions:

You cook it at medium heat for 15 minutes or so, or until the liquid is just about gone:

At this point, your cauliflower is roasted, and you have your sauce.    You can turn the oven down, to 375, and toss the cauliflower into the sauce, off the heat.

You'll see it's in a ceramic baking dish, which Annalena has greased.    Finally, you do something that reminded Annalena of her days of making moussaka.  The original recipe called for 2 large eggs, and 3 ounces of soft goat cheese.  Annalena turned that to three eggs, and 6 ounces.    Beat the eggs, and add about 5 ounces or so of the cheese to it, until the egg/cheese mixture is smooth. Then, pour ALL of that over the cauliflower, and spread it out as best as you can.  Take the remaining bit of cheese, and dot the surface:

And get that into the oven, for 20 minutes.  Your cheese will begin to brown,  and:

Ragazzi, Annalena hopes you realize that you can do all of this ahead of time, and that you don't have to do everything at once.  If you do things in sequence, and not at the same time, Annalena recommends doing the cauliflower last.  You can store the sauce in your fridge, and mixing the eggs and cheese should take you all of about 90 seconds.  

For those of getting ready for the big holiday meals,  think about this.  Or just make it now, and enjoy a seasonal meal or side dish.  They're good for you, carini.  Use the crucifers, and make them tasty.