Leeds restaurants: A vegan and gluten-free cauliflower gnocchi recipe from the head chef at FINT

Simon Hawkins opened the Leeds restaurant in July which has replaced his popular cafe Fettle.

The dish is vegan and gluten-free and leaves little waste, making use of a whole cauliflower.

Watch the video tutorial above and follow along at home.

Ingredients: 1 head cauliflower; 1 tbsp oil; 1 onion, finely diced; 1 clove garlic; 1 bay leaf; 3 sprigs of thyme or 1/2 tsp dried thyme; 1/2 tsp caraway seeds; 1/2 tsp paprika; Gluten-free self raising flour; Gluten-free plain flour for dusting; Fine beans; Simple dressed rocket salad

Method:

Cut off florets from cauliflower and reserve 1/4 of them in a separate bowl.

Slice dry/brown end off cauliflower stalk. Cut off the outer layer of stalk: this tends to be very fibrous. Grate stalk and all remaining cauliflower florets.

Put a pan with a lid on a medium-low heat with a little oil.

Sweat onion until soft. Add garlic, grated cauliflower, salt, bay leaf, thyme, caraway seeds and paprika. Add a splash of water to cover base of pan. Stir well, and leave with lid on for around 15mins to soften. Check regularly and add another splash of water as necessary.

Once cauliflower is soft, if there is extra water still, cook with lid off for a few minutes to dry out a little. Place spiced cauliflower and onion mix into a blender jug and blend until smooth. Check for seasoning. Allow to cool to room temperature.

Take the cauliflower florets you've saved. Using your hands, break those down into small pieces. Toss with a little oil, salt and thyme. Place on a baking tray and roast in oven at 165C for around 20mins until toasted.

Split your cauliflower puree into roughly 1/3 and 2/3. Save the 1/3 for later. Weigh the 2/3 cauliflower puree and for every 100g add 50g of self-raising flour. Combine well.

Depending on how wet your cauliflower puree was to start, you may need to add additional flour: your mix should be damp and a little sticky.

To form the gnocchi, first lightly dust a tray or plate with gluten free plain flour. Using gluten-free plain flour to dust your fingers, pull off small teaspoon sized pieces of dough.

Roll into a ball, then roll down your hand to turn them slightly more sausage shaped. Place on floured tray. Continue to do this with remaining dough. Once completed, lightly press a fork onto the top of all your gnocchi.

Pre-heat a non-stick pan over a medium low heat with a little oil. Add gnocchi into pan taking care not to over crowd your pan. You can cook the gnocchi in batches and keep warm in an oven.

After a few minutes once golden, flip them onto their other side. Add bite-size fine beans to the pan. They will cook as the gnocchi finish.

Dress your plates with a good dollop of cauliflower puree, cooked gnocchi with green beansand a side salad.

Great just by itself or with some left over cold cuts from the night before.

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