This recipe is a perfect reflection of the seasons right now...with the yellow squash still holding out in those last warm days of summer and the romanesco just beginning its season...to ease you into autumn, whilst allowing you to still feel like you're soaking up the rays of summer.
The nuttiness of the romanesco perfectly complements the nutty, al dente buckwheat, coated in a creamy sauce, with subtly smoky flavours of smoked garlic, lemon and herbs, and a hint of pepper. It's comforting enough to be autumn food, but still super light and summery.
I visited borough market yesterday, where I tried a burger from 'Big V', sampled copious amounts of olive oils with bread and browsed the fruit and veg stalls - from heirloom tomatoes to purple mushrooms, to the romanesco and yellow courgette in this post, there was so much variety and I just wanted to buy it all! I do love living in London...especially for all the food markets, you can simply pick a market, hop on the tube and just explore a brand new place! To keep up to date with all the food places I try - follow me on instagram here and check out my posts, stories and highlights.
If you haven't heard of or tried a romanesco before, it's sort of a mix between a cauliflower and broccoli in taste, with slight nutty flavours, kept simple with a mix of olive oil, salt and pepper before being roasted to perfection. If you can't find a romanesco, then simply pick your favourite of the two veg and use this instead! You can also use a regular courgette (zucchini), or as the seasons change, a winter squash instead.
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Creamy Buckwheat & Roasted Romanesco | Serves: 4 | Time: 25 minutes
You'll need
- Large sauté pan or cast iron
- Baking tray
- Mixing bowl
- Chopping board
- Knife
- Measuring cups
- Blender
Ingredients
Romanesco
- Romanesco
- Drizzle olive oil
- Salt
- Pepper
Creamy Buckwheat
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 onion
- 3 large cloves smoked garlic (or regular garlic)
- 1 large yellow courgette
- 1.5 cups buckwheat
- 2 cups vegetable stock
- 1 tsp dried Italian herbs
- 1/2 tsp mild chili flakes
- 1/2 cup cashew nuts
- Juice 1.5 lemons
- 1/2 cup water
- 4 large handfuls spinach
- 1 tbsp finely chopped parsley
- 1 tbsp thinly sliced chives
- 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
- Salt
- Pepper
Method
- Preheat the oven to 200°C. Wash and chop the romanesco into small florets and tear off some of the smaller leaves. Transfer to a large bowl, drizzle with olive oil and a good pinch of salt and pepper. Toss to evenly coat, spread out on a baking tray and roast for 20 minutes.
- Dice the onion and add to the pan with a splash of olive oil, fry for a few minutes on a medium-low heat until translucent, then mince the garlic and add this to the pan. Chop the courgette into chunks and stir through, cook for 5 minutes.
- Add the buckwheat, vegetable stock, dried herbs and chili flakes to the pan and simmer for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, blend the cashews, lemon juice, nutritional yeast and 1/2 cup water until smooth. Add the cashew cream to the pan and heat through, then add the spinach, parsley and chives and allow the spinach to wilt. Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper as required.
- Serve up topped with the romanesco, a drizzle of olive oil and some freshly cracked black pepper and enjoy!
Cassidy xx
