Pasta and tacos: Miguel Barclay’s £1 cauliflower recipes

When creating dishes for £1, I have to be super-aware of just how much I’m getting for my money, and whether an ingredient is main dish-worthy or if it will only ever be a side dish. Cauliflower always comes out on top, and is increasingly becoming one of my go-to ingredients. I love the way it can caramelise to give you those meaty notes, and is one reason the humble cauliflower has the power to push meat from my menu.

Cauliflower tacos (pictured top)

Prep 10 min
Cook 20 min
Serves 1

¼ cauliflower, cut into florets
Olive oil
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp smoked paprika
Salt and pepper
½ red onion, thinly sliced
Splash of red-wine vinegar
40g plain flour
1 small handful chopped coriander, to serve
Feta, crumbled, to serve

Coat the cauliflower in the olive oil, cumin and paprika, season, then roast in a 180C (160C fan)/350F/gas 4 oven for about 20 minutes, until nicely coloured.

Meanwhile, put the onion in a bowl with a splash of red-wine vinegar and let it sit for at least 10 minutes.

To make the tacos, put the flour and 25ml water in a bowl with a pinch of salt, and mix to make a dough. Knead on a work surface until the dough is smooth, then separate into three and roll into balls. Roll out each ball into a roughly 10cm circle, then toast in a dry frying pan on a medium heat for a couple of minutes on each side.

Stir the coriander into the red onion pickle, then assemble your tacos: put a tablespoon of the onion salad on each tortilla, top with some cauliflower and a little crumbled feta, and serve.

Cauliflower pasta

Cauliflower is great when it’s soft and creamy, but also when it’s charred and the flavour is intensified through caramelisation. So here we’re doing both.

Prep 5 min
Cook 20 min
Serves 1

½ cauliflower
About 150ml milk
Salt and pepper
About 50g grated parmesan
Olive oil
125g tagliatelle

Chop the cauliflower into chunks, and keep some nice-looking florets to one side for the topping. Boil the chunks of cauliflower, including the stalk, in salted water for about 10 minutes, until soft, then blend in a food processor with the milk, a generous seasoning of salt and pepper, and the parmesan.

Meanwhile, season the reserved florets and fry on a high heat in a glug of oil for about seven minutes, until golden brown all over.

Cook the pasta in salted boiling water according to the packet instructions, then drain. Mix the pasta with the cauliflower sauce, adding a splash of the cooking water to loosen, if need be, top with the fried florets and serve garnished with a generous glug of olive oil and some salt and pepper.