Sicilian-style cauliflower dish This cauliflower dish is perfect for autumn evenings when the weather’s been warm during the day but getting chilly at night. It’s got big autumn flavours, good with pasta or maybe on its own with crusty bread. It’s very similar to the famous Naples pasta sauce “Puttanesca,” allegedly served by Neapolitan ladies of the night as a quick supper… Serves 4 You will need a shallow sauté pan or frying pan. Medium cauliflower, cut into chunky florets 4-6 ripe medium tomatoes, skinned and roughly chopped Garlic – one clove, roughly chopped Handful of black olives, stones removed and roughly chopped Teaspoon capers, rinsed thoroughly and chopped Approx 6 anchovy fillets (from a tin or jar, not fresh) handful basil leaves, roughly torn (optional) Some Parmesan cheese, grated Pasta: chunky shapes such as penne – or crusty bread Cook the cauliflower – just pop it in a pan of boiling water and cook till soft, around 5 mins. Drain and keep warm while you make the rest of the dish. If you’re having some pasta, put it on to boil now. Heat some olive oil in a shallow sauté pan. Add the garlic – just a minute, till it starts to turn golden; then the tomatoes and cook till softened – say 5 mins. Add the olives, capers and anchovies. If you have some basil leaves, add those too. Take off the heat, season with black pepper (but you won’t need salt), stir in the cauliflower and serve immediately with grated Parmesan and pasta or crusty bread. Cauliflower is in season all year round. It’s great for absorbing strong flavours like these – forget soggy school-dinners cauliflower cheese! © Jane Chittenden for Future Radio September 2014
Posted on: Mon, 15 Sep 2014 16:33:52 +0000