Chef's recipe from Restaurant of the Year: Cauliflower Vecino

Yahoo

06-04-2025

From the chefs at Vecino in Detroit, the 2025 Detroit Free Press/Metro Detroit Chevy Dealers Restaurant of the Year, this popular cauliflower dish is cloaked with a good layer of tomato- and tomatillo-based salsa that gets its heat from dried chili peppers. While it can be spicy, the spiciness doesn't linger too long and is cooled by the cauliflower. The addition of crunchy almonds is a pleasant finish.
Serves: 8 / Prep time: 45 minutes / Total time: 1 hourDried morita chili peppers are red, ripe jalapeno peppers that are usually smoked. Morita is the Spanish word for little blackberry. Pasilla peppers are the dried form of chilaca peppers. You will find both at specialty Hispanic stores such as Honey Bee Market on Bagley Street in southwest Detroit, and grocers that carry dried chili peppers.
More: 6 great recipes from 25 years of Free Press top restaurants series
2 cauliflower heads, trimmed of leaves and core
Oil for sauteing (vegetable or olive oil)
5 cloves garlic, chopped
1 large to jumbo white onion, chopped
1 ½ pounds roma tomatoes, chopped
14 ounces tomatillos, papery skin removed, chopped
1 Morita dried chili pepper (about 7 grams or 2 inches long and 1 inch wide), stem removed, chopped
2 Pasilla peppers, stems removed, chopped
Salt to taste
¼ to ½ cup vegetable stock or as needed
¼ cup toasted sliced almonds
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the cauliflower heads, one at a time if necessary. Cook the cauliflower for 7 minutes or until it is just fork tender.
Remove from the pot and transfer to a colander to drain. Set aside.
Heat a few tablespoons of oil (vegetable, olive oil, etc) vegetable oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook 30 seconds or so until fragrant. Add the onion, tomatoes, and tomatillos and sauté for about 10 minutes or until the tomato is blistered.
Add the vegetable stock, morita and pasilla peppers and simmer this mixture for about 20 minutes. Remove from heat, cool a bit and transfer to a blender. Puree until smooth. If the mixture is too thick, thin with water. For a smoother sauce, pass through a sieve, pressing on the solids to release juices. Taste and season with salt as desired.
To plate: Cut the cauliflower into desired portion sizes. Place the cauliflower portion on a serving plate. Drizzle with the sauce until the cauliflower is evenly covered. Sprinkle some sliced almonds on top and serve.
From Vecino, Detroit
Tested by Susan Selasky
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Restaurant of the Year shares recipe for spicy, but not too spicy fave