Pasta with lightly roasted cauliflower florets, cooked in a sauce of tomatoes, anchovies, onions, garlic, parsley and parmesan.
No more kale, cauliflower is the “it girl” these days. There are so many wonderful dishes you can make with it!
This easy pasta with cauliflower, tomato, and parmesan is a great example. I adapted the recipe from a Sicilian recipe by Vincent Schiavelli that appeared in Saveur years ago.
The secret ingredient?
anchovies.
OK, so I’m weird. I’m one of those people you can say “cauliflower” and “anchovies” to and I’m starting to drool. I’ll take cauliflower anyway (although roasted is best in my opinion) and anchovies?
Well, anchovies are a childhood stereotype (“Shut up the anchovies!”) that I’ve happily outgrown. (Fortunately, so does my childhood anti-opera and country music vibe. What’s wrong with kids not liking things before they’ve even tried them?)
No, the anchovies will not make this dish taste like fish. However, they impart an indescribable palatability (umami) that will make you want to eat the whole bowl.
Updated with new photos from the recipe archive. First published November 2009.
Pasta with cauliflower, tomatoes and parmesan
Variations on this recipe include adding toasted pine nuts or walnuts, a few raisins, and/or some saffron.
*For breadcrumbs, chop up about 3 slices of bread from the previous day. Pulse in blender or food processor until you have small crumbs.
ingredients
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1 Cup fresh breadcrumbs*
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6 tablespoon Extra virgin olive oildivided, 2 and 4 tablespoons
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1 Onionchopped (about 1 1/2 cups)
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2 tablespoons anchovies packed in oil, chopped (approx 6 anchovies)
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1 big head cauliflowerCore removed and discarded, florets roughly chopped (see Cutting and Deseeding the Cauliflower)
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5 cloves garlicchopped
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1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakesmore or less to taste
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Salt and fresh ground black pepper
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3 tablespoon tomato paste
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1/2 lb little elbow macaroni
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1 (15 ounce) can whole tomatoeschopped or diced tomatoes, including juice
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1/4 Cup chopped Italian parsley
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1/2 Cup fresh grated parmesan cheese
method
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Toast bread crumbs:
Toast the crumbs in a little olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until lightly browned. Remove crumbs from pan and set aside.
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Sauté onions with garlic and anchovies:
Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Add the onions, garlic and anchovies.
Mash the anchovies with the back of a spoon so they smear well over the onions. Cook for 5 minutes until onions are soft. Remove the onions from the pan and set aside.
While you cook the onions, place a large pot of salted water (1 tablespoon salt in 2 liters of water) on the stove to cook the pasta.
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Fry the cauliflower florets:
Heat 4 tbsp olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the cauliflower, stirring occasionally and allowing the cauliflower edges to brown. Cook until cauliflower florets are lightly browned, 3-5 minutes. Add the paprika flakes to the pan and season with salt and pepper.
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Add tomato paste, tomatoes, onion mixture:
Dissolve tomato paste in 1/2 cup water. Reduce the heat to low. Add the tomato paste, tomatoes, onion, garlic and anchovies and mix well.
Cook uncovered over low heat until cauliflower is tender.
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Cook the pasta, add to the cauliflower mixture:
Cook the noodles uncovered in boiling salted water according to the instructions on the noodle package until just al dente. Drain the pasta from the cooking water and add the cooked pasta to the cauliflower mixture.
Stir in about half the parsley, breadcrumbs, and Parmesan (leave the rest on top for garnish).
Makes great leftovers as the flavors have more time to blend.
Links:
Sicilian pasta with broccoli and cauliflower by Heidi from 101 cookbooks
Cauliflower, walnuts and feta pasta by Deb from Smitten Kitchen
Spinach Fettucine with Cauliflower and Bacon from Blue Kitchen
Tips for slicing and coring cauliflower here on Simply Recipes
| nutritional information (per serving) | |
|---|---|
| 658 | calories |
| 28g | Fat |
| 82g | carbohydrates |
| 23g | protein |
