Baharat roasted cauliflower, pomegranate and pine nut couscous, with hummus and flatbreads

Serves 4

Preparation time: 30 minutes
Resting time: 1 - 2 hours
Cooking time: 45 minutes

If you don’t have much time on your hands, you can buy both the flatbreads and hummus

Ingredients
1 large cauliflower, leaves and florets separated
5 tbsps olive oil
2 tsp baharat spice
3 tsp flaky sea salt
1 red onion, cut in half and finely sliced
1 tbsp sherry vinegar

Flat bread
7g dried easy blend yeast
125ml warm water
300g strong white bread flour
2 tsps sugar
1 tsp sea salt
50g yoghurt
25g olive oil

Hummus
320g jar chickpeas
½ lemon, juiced
1 tbsps extra-virgin olive oil plus a little extra for drizzling
1 cloves garlic, crushed or very finely chopped
¼ tsp ground cumin
2 tbsps tahini
Salt

Couscous
250g couscous
1 stock pot
2 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
½ lemon, juice only
15g fresh parsley, very finely chopped
7g mint, very finely chopped
50g pistachios, roughly chopped
Seeds of 1 pomegranate

Method
Start with the flatbreads.  Put the yeast into the water and put to one side while you get the rest of your ingredients ready.

Put the flour either into a mixer with a dough hook or into a large bowl if you will be kneading by hand.  Put the salt to one side and the sugar to the other side.  Put the olive oil into the yeast mixture.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and set the mixer going slowly at first and then increase the speed and leave going for 5 minutes until the dough is smooth.

Put a little oil in your bowl and rub around the bottom and the edges and put your dough back in and cover with cling film.  Put aside to rise for an hour or two until double in size. 

Once your dough has doubled, carry on with the recipe.

Preheat the oven to 200C.

Turn to the cauliflower, you want to pull off and keep the leaves, cutting any large stalks in half and cutting the head into florets.

Mix the 3 tbsps of olive oil with the baharat spices.  Tip the cauliflower into a small roasting tin, pour the spiced olive oil over the cauliflower and sprinkle over the salt. Bake in the oven for 45 minutes, stirring after 15, 25 and 35 minutes.

Pour the sherry vinegar and sugar into a small bowl and whisk together.  Once the sugar has dissolved, add 2 tbsps of olive oil and whisk again.  Put in the red onion into the bowl. Add a splash of boiling water from the kettle and mix together with a spoon. Season with a good pinch of salt and put to one side.

Warm the chickpeas and their liquid in a small pan.

Into a food processor put the chickpeas (drained but keep the liquid), the lemon juice, olive oil, garlic and the cumin and blitz for 1 minute.  Scrape down the sides and blitz for a further minute.  You want the hummus to be pillowy and soft and you want it to easily churn so if it is too thick, add 1-2 tbsps of the reserved chickpea liquid. Add the tahini and blitz again for a further minute.  Scrape down the sides and blitz for a further minute.  Check the seasoning and blitz again if needed. 

Put the couscous into a large serving bowl. Cut the stock pot into smaller pieces and pour over enough boiling water to just cover the couscous and cover the bowl with clingfilm.

After the couscous has sat for 5 minutes, take off the clingfilm and use a fork to fluff up the grains. Check the grains are soft, if they are not, add a tbsp or 2 of boiling water and cover for 2 more minutes.  Drizzle in the olive oil and the lemon juice and stir.  Give the couscous a good mix and check the seasoning, adding a touch more salt if needed.  Add the herbs and mix through again then add the pistachios and pomegranate seeds.

Check your cauliflower is soft and turn off the oven.

To cook the flatbreads, cut the dough into 4 and roll out on a lightly floured work surface until ½ cm thick. Heat a griddle pan or frying pan and brush the flatbread with a little oil. Cook for 2 minutes on each side or until blistered and deep golden brown. Keep warm in a low oven while you cook the rest.

To serve, spoon the hummus onto the bottom of a serving plate, top with the the couscous and cauliflower an scatter over the onions without their liquid.  Serve with the flatbreads.