This recipe is courtesy of Mario Batali by way of Reader's Digest May 2010.
My children do not like cauliflower and I do. I also got two or three heads of it from my produce co-op. We never know what we are going to get and that is what came that week. I was desperate for a way to prepare this food that I love so my kids would eat it. I have tried the usual steamed with cheese sauce-boring, dipped in ranch-boring, and just eating it. Nothing would get them to ingest it until now.
The rule in our house is that you have to try it no matter how yucky you think it looks. So I made the recipe and it was a vegetable miracle! They not only ate it but asked for seconds. Add it doesn't look yucky. So, here it is and I hope you have the same success.
Ingredients:
1 medium cauliflower (about 2lbs)
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 Medium white onion, cut into 1/4 inch dices
3 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
flaky sea salt
1 1/2 to 2 tsp hot red pepper flakes
6 T unsalted butter, cut into 6 pieces-I only used 4 T to cut out some of the fat
1 lb pennette pasta or other pasta like it
3/4 cup freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano plus extra for serving-I used the grated parmesean cheese I had in my fridge.
1/2 cup coarse fresh bread crumbs, sauteed in 1 T olive oil until golden brown-I left these off.
1 1/2 tsp minced fresh rosemary
Proceedure:
1. Halve cauliflower. Remove leaves and cut out core and reserve. Cut cauliflower into small bite-size flourets, reserving stalks. Chop core, leaves, and stalks.
2.Combine oil, onion, garlic, and cauliflower core, leaves, and stalks in large pot, season with sea salt, and cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until leaves are just beginning to wilt, about 3 minutes. Reduce heat to low and cook, stirring frequently, until leaves are just tender, 18 to 20 minutes.
3. Add cauliflower florets, red pepper flakes, and 1 cup water and bring to simmer over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to gentle simmer, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, until cauliflower is almost falling apart, 22 to 25 minutes. Add butter, stirring gently until it melts; season well with sea salt. Remove from heat.
4. Bring 6 quarts water to boil in large pot and add 3 T kosher salt. Drop in pasta cook until just al dente.
5. Drain pasta, reserving about 2/3 cup pasta water. Add pasta and 1/3 cup reserved water to ragu. Toss over medium heat until pasta is well coated. (add more pasta water to thin sauce). Stir in cheese.
6. Transfer pasta to serving bowl, sprinkle with bread crumbs and rosemary, and serve with additional grated cheese.
