Romanesco Salad

Have you ever cooked with romanesco? Also called romanesco cauliflower or romansco broccoli, it is indeed of the brassica family and looks like a mathematician’s fractal experiment run wild.

It’s almost too pretty to eat. But eat it we shall. Romanesco is closer in taste to cauliflower than to broccoli, but milder and nuttier than either. 

In this recipe we are first steaming the romanesco florets, then lightly tossing them in a red wine vinaigrette, along with thinly sliced red onion, celery, parsley, capers, and lemon zest. We then leave everything to marinate for a bit, so the dressing seeps in, lightly pickling it.

So good! If romanesco is not available where you are, you could easily do the same treatment with cauliflower.

Romanesco Salad Recipe

Prep the ingredients while you are steaming the romanesco in the first step.

Ingredients

• 2 heads of romanesco (2 1/2 to 3 pounds total)
• Salt
• 2 stalks of celery, thinly sliced
• 1/2 large red onion, or one small red onion, thinly sliced
• 1 cup loosely packed fresh parsley leaves
• 2 Tbsp capers, rinsed and drained
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
• Freshly ground black pepper

Dressing

• 1 clove garlic
• 3 Tbsp red wine vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 anchovy, minced (optional, omit if cooking vegetarian)
• 1/4 cup high quality olive oil

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