Olive Oil, Garlic & Romano Cheese Mashed Cauliflower

Photo Credit: Goddess of Scrumptiousnes

I saw this GORGEOUS photo of this dish on Pinterest -- it was labeled Olive Oil, Garlic, Chives & Romano Cheese Mashed Cauliflower. I attempted to follow the Pin to it's source only to find that it lead to a photo site -- not a recipe site. I was able to track down the origins of the photo -- Goddess of Scrumptiousness (don't you just love that name?) and there was the recipe -- for Olive Oil, Garlic, Chives & Romano Cheese Mashed POTATOES.

By this time I was determined to make this -- for a dinner party that was only a couple days away.....a recipe Re-mix was in order because nothing else was going to do, lol.

I have made many a potato-like dish with cauliflower and I have always been happy with the flavor of the resulting dish -- however the consistancy is always a bit off for me. Cauliflower has a lot more moisture in it than does potatoes and then boiling it to death just magnifies the waterlogging process. Skipping the boiling in the original recipe, I decided to bake my cauliflower. GREAT decision. I also decided that the garlic flavor was enough and skipped the chives -- maybe this summer when my chives are needing sheered back I'll do this again with the chives -- they add pretty factor as well as flavor.

Very happy with the resulting dish -- was a perfect match to pork chops and green beans, has moved to my FAVORITE cauliflower dish and seemed very well liked by my company.

Olive Oil, Garlic & Romano Cheese Mashed Cauliflower

1 head cauliflower
salt & freshly cracked pepper
4-6 cloves garlic, peeled
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 c cream
1/3 c grated Romano cheese
Salt & freshly cracked pepper

Clean cauliflower and break into large flowerette pieces. In a large piece of aluminum foil, tightly wrap cauliflower flowerettes and peeled garlic cloves that have been seasoned with salt and pepper and place in 350°F oven and bake for 45-55 minutes or until tender. Put into casserole dish and mash to desired consistency (I like a little texture to mine). Add EVOO and cream and mix in well. Add the grated Romano cheese and season with salt and pepper as desired. Makes 3-4 servings. Can be made ahead and reheated in a 350°F oven until piping hot.

4 servings = per serving 287 calories; carbs 9.11g; fiber 3.7g = 5.41 net carbs