Holiday Appetizers like these Roasted Cauliflower Crostini Puffs Create A Festive Feeling
Introducing a modern twist on an old-fashioned recipe which I will explain below if you keep reading! These Roasted Cauliflower Crostini Puffs are the new 1950’s canape! Canapes used to appear at every holiday feast when I was young. It was a way of welcoming guests along with a glass of wine or, back then, a “cocktail”.
Revamping an old canape recipe got me thinking about nostalgia and the importance of family food legacies. What is it about the holidays that creates feelings of closeness with our family?
It is a chance to hopefully be together, in person or on Zoom this year, to share memories, food and catch up on family news. This connection to family is why many of us make the same dishes every year or revive old recipes that have been buried in old cookbooks and file boxes somewhere.
A Blast from the Past
The aroma of food in a kitchen during the holidays transports us to earlier times in our lives when our parents and grandparents made their best recipes to share with family as we gathered to celebrate holidays. This emotional connection that we have to those dishes are why we make the same things over and over again.
People expect Grandma’s special lemon bars or crinkle cookies or Aunt Grace’s Corn Casserole. The food is the star of the holidays and anyone scrolling through Instagram, blogs or magazines can’t help but see that nothing is more important than special recipes in December.
Which brings me to explain the background of these Roasted Cauliflower Crostini Puffs. In the 1950’s and 1960’s, women generally were the ones who did the cooking for the holidays. Sexist? Maybe. But let’s put that aside in favor of the memories our Moms and Grandmothers so successfully created.
My mother was famous for her canapes. Now there is a word that no one uses anymore. Her bridge group would come over and the pressure was on to make the best food. At least much better than any of the other players could come up with. My mother was an unbelievably good cook. She taught me everything I know to this day, six decades after I sat on a too-tall stool and watched her make magic in the kitchen. But…as much as I love mayonnaise, especially anything made by Hellmann’s my mother liked to use a ratio of 90 % mayo and 10 % everything else in her canapes.
A Revival of the Canape Concept
Canapes always contained a slice of bread on the bottom and a smear of something on the top that would usually puff up. Mayonnaise was usually the foundation of the mixture on top with a simple addition of chopped onion and Parmesan. Yep. Mayo, cheese, onion and bread toasted in the oven until greasy, hot and brown. And the bridge players applauded when the platter was placed in the center of the game table.
A Healthier Version of My Mother’s Recipe
For some reason, in just the last few weeks, I remembered these mayonnaise canapes and thought about how to make them healthier. I still wanted to maintain the essence of what my mother was trying to achieve — an irresistable hot and rich topping on a slice of crusty bread– without all the fat.
And so, like most recipes that come to my mind, while out on a long, cold walk, I thought of adding roasted cauliflower in place of most of the mayo and these Roasted Cauliflower Crostini Puffs were created.
The recipe is easy and quick and the topping can be made two or three days ahead. No one will ever guess that the topping is made of cauliflower and you should even be able to get the kids to eat vegetables. If you omit the Parmesan and use the vegan version of Hellman’s mayo, you can happily share these with all your vegan friends and family members!
I hope these interesting and different Roasted Cauliflower Crostini Puffs become a permanent part of your holiday repetoire. This has been a year for firsts. For sure. So for my holiday dinner to be spent only with members of my immediate household, I plan on introducing these as a new tradition. And next year, hopefully, I will triple the recipe for the masses I will be entertaining. Remember entertaining?
Roasted Cauliflower Crostini Puffs
A lighter version of the old fashioned onion and mayonnaise canape popular in the 50's. Now made with roasted cauliflower.
Ingredients
- 1 head cauliflower trimmed and cut into 8 pieces
- 1 loaf French bread thinly sliced
- 1/3 cup plus 4 tablespoons olive oil divided
- 2 tablespoons minced garlic
- ½ medium onion finely chopped
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- 1/3 cup finely chopped parsley
- 1/3 cup Parmesan can omit to be vegan
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
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In a heat safe glass 1-cup measuring cup combine 1/3 cup olive oil with the minced garlic. Microwave on high for 45 seconds until the garlic is just translucent.
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Put the sliced bread on a large sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Brush the bread slices on one side with the olive oil and garlic mixture. Reserve any unused garlic mixture and add the chopped onion and an additional 1 tablespoon olive oil. Microwave the mixture for 2 minutes. Set aside to cool.
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Bake for 5-6 minutes until the bread just starts to get crispy. Set aside while you roast the cauliflower.
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On a large cookie sheet lined with parchment paper toss the 8 cauliflower pieces with 3 tablespoons olive oil and ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper. Raise the oven temperature to 400 degrees and roast the cauliflower for 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool. Lower oven temperature to 350 degrees.
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In a food processor, combine the cooled cauliflower, cooled onion, mayonnaise, parsley and Parmesan (if using). Pulse the mixture just until it is just combined, about 6-8 pulses. There should not be any large pieces of cauliflower but the mixture should not be smooth. Scrape the sides of the bowl with a spatula and pulse 1 or 2 times to combine. Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper as desired.
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Spoon about 1 tablespoon of the mixture on each of the garlic crostini. Bake the crostini for 12 minutes until the cauliflower puffs up, just begins to brown and the crostini are hot throughout. Serve immediately.
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Makes 24.