Roasted Romanesco Broccoli

Doesn’t this thing look amazing?  It seems like something from outer space.  I’ve been wanting to cook with Romanesco Broccoli (or Romanesco Cauliflower, or Italian Cauliflower as it’s also called) for a while now. Ryan picked some up for us at the market on Sunday when he was exploring the stalls with my sister and nephew who were in town for a visit.  We thought it would be fun to do an “experiment” with my nephew by roasting the Romanesco and seeing how it would taste, and since none of us had ever tried it before, we were really excited to try it.

Here are the florets before roasting.  I just cut them from the stalk into somewhat small pieces, because I usually like tinier pieces when roasting vegetables.  I think it tastes better, and it also cuts down on the cooking time.  I tossed them with some kosher salt, black pepper and olive oil.

Here’s what they looked like after roasting in a 425 degree oven for about 20 minutes or so.  I stirred them about halfway through the cooking time.

So what did they taste like?  Well, they were definitely kid approved!

That’s our adorable nephew, Derek, eating his veggies!  We were having a lazy day, so we let him stay in his Pj?s while we played and watched movies.  He helped Ryan take pictures for this post before doing a little modeling out on the porch (having come from Chicago, he was loving the weather here!), and then the three of us ate the bowl of Romanesco as a little appetizer before lunch.  Derek loves broccoli and is pretty good about eating his fruits and veggies.  MUCH better than I ever was when I was five (or even twenty five for that matter)!