Mediterranean-style oven baked Cauliflower with Olives and Tomatoes – prepared with fresh or frozen cauliflower, green and/or Kalamata olives and your favorite pasta tomato sauce. Spiced up with Mediterranean herbs, this easy dish is gluten-free and vegetarian.
Let’s make delicious Mediterranean inspired baked cauliflower with a mix of green and Kalamata olives and tomato sauce. If you like to use home-made tomato sauce check my Homemade Sicilian Tomato Sauce (30 minutes) recipe. This dish can be made with fresh cauliflower florets or with frozen ones, depending on what you have on hand.
FUN FACTS: Cauliflower is a common ingredient in Mediterranean cuisine. It is versatile and used in various dishes across the region, which encompasses countries around the Mediterranean Sea including Southern Europe, North Africa, and parts of the Middle East.
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Cauliflower florets – from fresh or frozen cauliflower
- Olive mix – I use a combination of pitted green and Kalamata olives
- Tomato sauce – the one I use is either plain tomato sauce from a bottle, or spiced up pasta tomato sauce (it really depends what I have in the pantry).
- Butter – can be substituted with vegetable oil like sunflower or canola oil or olive oil too
- Mediterranean herbs mix – oregano, sage, basil, etc..
- Salt and white pepper to taste
VEGAN: For plant based version use vegetable oil (like olive oil or sunflower oil) instead of butter.
TIP: If using fresh cauliflower make sure to cut it to smallest possible florets. If cooking with large cauliflower florets the larger ones feel blunt to me.
How to cook Mediterranean Cauliflower?
1st: Sauté cauliflower in butter (oil) on the stove for 5-10 minutes.
2nd: Transfer to baking dish (ceramic casserole), mix in the tomato sauce, olives and herbs. Bake in the oven and serve immediately.
TIP: If the dish looks too sour for you, serve it over rice or mashed potatoes to cut out the edge. We typically eat it just like that or as a side to a meat-based main meal, such as this French Baked Chicken Leg Quarters.
What to serve with Mediterranean Baked Cauliflower?
Mediterranean Cauliflower with Olives and Tomatoes
Equipment
- 1 Baking dish ceramic
Ingredients
- 500 g cauliflower florets, fresh or frozen
- 6 tbsp. butter, or more as needed
- 400 g Italian pasta tomato sauce, with basil
- 1 cup olives mix, pitted
Seasoning
- 1 tsp. basil, dried/fresh
- 1 tsp. oregano, dried/fresh
- 1 tsp. sage, dried/fresh
- salt and white pepper to taste
Instructions
- First, in a frying pan add butter and cauliflower florets, let sear for 5-7 minutes, or less. Toss cauliflower on each side to coat well in butter (optional step for fresh, preferred for frozen cauliflower).
- Next, transfer cauliflower to a small baking dish (ceramic), pour over the Italian Tomato sauce and olives. Mix in all the spices too.
- Bake in the oven on 180C/360F with ventilation/hot air on until brown-ish and crisp on top. Serve immediately (over rice if desired).
Notes
Nutrition
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Excellent recipe, my grandfather used to make something similar when I was little
I am intending to make your recipe shortly but would like you to be aware that butter is not part of mediterranean cuisine. I know you said oil may be substituted but if you call it mediterranean it should be olive oil not butter
Dear Dorina, thank you for stopping by and sharing your viewpoint 🙂 Butter is used by all my relatives who live on the Mediterranean basin, alongside olive oil, lard, peanut oil (especially for frying) or duck fat. It really depends on where you live and what’s available in modern times as well.