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Hetty McKinnon’s Whole Roasted Cauliflower with a Mountain of Dill

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The inspiration for this whole roasted cauliflower comes from an unlikely source—the “green devils” at Agi’s Counter, a Brooklyn restaurant that serves “market-driven cuisine with heavy Jewish; Eastern European influence.” Their green devils are actually deviled eggs, topped with dill oil, a heap of fresh dill, and optional-but-not-optional hot sauce. It is a spectacular mouthful. I took elements of this dish and applied it to a whole roasted cauliflower, one of my favorite ways of cooking this sweet brassica. While it takes longer than roasting florets, this recipe requires virtually no preparation, and I love how charred and crispy the cauliflower exterior gets while the interior stays soft and creamy. The dill oil is a cheffy move, I admit, but it is pleasingly refined, almost like a dill-infused essence that rains magic over the dish (you can absolutely skip this part of the recipe if you like). Of course, the whole cauliflower is then buried under a mountain of fresh dill, which is absolutely mandatory because dill is the power move that makes this dish unforgettable.

From Linger: Salads, Sweets and Stories to Savor © 2025 by Hetty Lui McKinnon. Excerpted by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without the publisher’s written permission.

  • Yield: 4

Ingredients

1 head cauliflower [2 lb/900g]

Extra-virgin olive oil

Sea salt and black pepper

1/4 cup [60 g] tahini

1 garlic clove, grated

1 tablespoon lemon juice (from 1/2 small lemon)

1 cup fresh dill leaves

Hot sauce or chile oil

Dill oil (optional)

1 cup fresh dill leaves

1/3 cup [80 ml] extra-virgin olive oil

Instructions

  1. If you’re making the dill oil, in a small food processor or high-speed blender, place the dill and oil and blend until the mixture is as smooth as you can get it. Transfer the mixture to a jar and set aside at room temperature for 2 hours (or overnight in the fridge). Strain the mixture through a cheesecloth or a very fine sieve, squeezing the cloth or pressing down on the dill with the back of a spoon to extract as much oil as possible. Transfer the oil to a jar and discard the dill sediment.
  2. Preheat the oven to 425°F (225°C).
  3. Remove the outer leaves from the cauliflower and trim the stem so it can sit flat. Place the cauliflower on a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil and season well with salt and pepper. Toss to coat well. Roast until the cauliflower is golden and tender all the way through, 50 to 70 minutes (the exact cooking time will depend on the size of your cauliflower, so check regularly). You can test by inserting a bamboo skewer through the center core; if it goes in easily, it is ready.
  4. In a small bowl, combine the tahini, garlic and lemon juice with about 3 tablespoons water and whisk until smooth and a pourable consistency. Season with 1/2 teaspoon salt and a big pinch of pepper.
  5. To serve, drizzle the tahini all over the cauliflower, and add drops of the dill oil, if using (use as much or as little as you like). Top with the dill leaves and a few drops of hot sauce or chile oil.

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