I had to come up with a new way to serve cauliflower, whenever I watch a cooking show I think to myself – wow, they come up with so many ways to serve cauliflower and I have like two.  So, the other night I tried this combination and it worked well – high heat, oil, paprika and Parmesan cheese.  I was making my chicken parm and had extra Parmesan cheese and a new version of cauliflower was born!

Ingredients

1 large head of cauliflower

1 -2 tbsp of olive oil (I don’t measure, I just pour on enough to coat the cauliflower)

Spray of olive oil for the bottom of the pan

Salt and pepper to taste

paprika (3-4 sprinkles tossed onto the cauliflower)

1/2 cup grated Parmesan reggiano cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Clean and cut the cauliflower, slice it into thin pieces after pulling out the core, which results in flat flowers.  That makes them cook quickly and evenly and look different and prettier.

Put all the cauliflower pieces into a large bowl and gently toss in the olive oil.  Add a few grinds of salt, pepper and 2 shakes of paprika.  After you toss, then add another 2 sprinkles of paprika (it adds a lovely color and flavor) and another grind of salt.

Spray the bottom of a lasagna pan or cookie sheet with edges (I think they call those jelly roll pans).  Pour out the cauliflower onto the pan or tray and place the pan/tray in the bottom half of the oven for 15 minutes.

Pull out of the oven, flip the cauliflower over and sprinkle on the cheese.  Return to the oven for another 10-15 minutes, or until tender and nice and toasty looking.  I loved the flavor the roasting brought to this vegetable, and the special treat is if you get some of that cheese that melted to the bottom of the pan, it is like a Parmesan crisp, very decadent.  Anytime a vegetable can seem decadent, I’m in!

I served this on chicken parm night to go with the Italian theme, would also taste fun accompaniment with meatloaf and glazed carrots.  You can roast the cauliflower on a lower temp if your oven is set for something else like a roast, it will just take a bit longer.