My inspiration tonight came from Ottolenghi's Plenty More. I have changed the recipe a little as I did not have any basil. I also wanted a gluten free option so substituted the plain flour for buckwheat flour, hence the darker colour of the mixture.
Start by cutting up 450g of cauliflower florets and placing them in a saucepan with a little salt and simmer for 15 minutes. When cooked strain and set aside to dry. I had the best of intentions to make this recipe a few days ago so I already had my cooked cauliflower ready to go tonight.
Cut 4 rounds off a red onion 0.5cm thick to place on the top of the mixture once completed. Chop the rest of the red onion and place it in a pan with 75ml of olive oil and 1/2 tsp of finely chopped fresh rosemary.
Cook the onion and rosemary for 10 minutes until soft, remove from heat and let cool. Place the cooked onion mixture into a bowl, crack in 7 eggs and add 15g chopped basil. Once combined add 120g plain flour (or in my case buckwheat flour), 1.5 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp of ground turmeric, salt, pepper and 150g coarsely grated mature cheese. I used some delicious Pecorino tonight but you could also use Parmesan, or another flavoursome hard mature cheese. Lastly gently add in the cauliflower to the mixture.
Line the base and sides of a 20cm springform cake tin with baking paper. Brush the sides with melted butter and toss 1 tbsp white seame seeds and 1 tsp nigella seeds to cover the sides of the tin. Tip in the cauliflower mixture into the tin and place the red onion rings on top.
In a preheated oven of 180 degrees Celsius cook the cake for 45 minutes until golden brown. Great served at room temperature or instead of bread with some poached eggs.
This cake keeps really well in the fridge for a couple of days, if it lasts that long!