Today we cook a poor dish of the Sicilian tradition, perfect for taking advantage of a typical vegetable of the winter season, as well as a precious ally for our health. Sicilian-style pasta with cauliflower is an excellent recipe to make cauliflower tasty and tasty, which perhaps not everyone appreciates. I, for one, have always hated the unpleasant smell it releases when cooking and I discovered this dish thanks to my grandmother, who didn’t give up on me in order to change my mind about this vegetable, proposing it to me in this looks more crunchy. Cauliflower exists in many colors, and belongs to Cruciferous family, the same as broccoli and cabbage, and shares numerous properties with them, such as high water and fiber content. Cauliflowers also have a low calorie content and are very rich in minerals and vitamins, with a purifying and antioxidant action. And it really is the high presence of sulfur to be responsible for the annoying smell that is released during cooking and soon invades the room. To limit this inconvenience we can add a few bay leaf in the water in which we are going to cook the cauliflower. Also because it would be a real shame to give up on this vegetable, with its delicate flavor that lends itself well to the most varied combinations. The winning cards of pasta with Sicilian cauliflowerare in fact the combination of cauliflower, previously blanched, with a mix of onion, anchovies, breadcrumbs that are toasted, and last but not least, raisins. The contrast that is created in textures, with the crunchiness of the bread and the creamy of the cauliflower, coexists with the contrast between the sweetness of the raisins and the salty of the anchovy.

Preparazzjoni

1

We clean the cauliflower, removing the outer leaves by cutting the base with the knife.

2

With the knife we ​​engrave at the base of the various tops, thus dividing them from the central stem. If the buds are large we can separate them further. We rinse the buds with fresh water and boil them in hot salted water for about 20 minutes. The cooking time can vary according to the size of the buds, so we can check the consistency with a fork. If we want the cauliflower to fall apart during cooking, creating a cream, let it cook until it feels very soft with a fork, if instead we want to keep whole and crunchy pieces of cauliflower, drain it al dente.

3

While we wait for the cauliflower to be ready, let’s prepare the other ingredients. Let’s put the raisins in a glass containing lukewarm water.

4

We toast the breadcrumbs in a very hot non-stick pan, turning from time to time to prevent it from burning too much.

5

We put a pot full of water on the fire (we can use the cooking water of the cauliflower), and once it reaches a boil, we will cook our fusilli.

6

In a pan, heat a little oil and add the chopped onion. When it becomes soft, add the anchovy fillets, keeping the heat medium and stir with a spoon to melt it, and prevent it from burning.

7

At this point, add the cauliflowers and a tablespoon of cooking water (or pasta water), to keep the preparation soft. Let’s cook for a few minutes, add the raisins and toasted pine nuts.

8

Drain the pasta in the sauce, mixing well and adding the breadcrumbs to the top.

ħażna

We can store our cauliflower pasta for 2-3 ijiem fil-friġġin closed container.

Varjanti

There are numerous variations that we can taste around or create ourselves. As already mentioned, we can cook the cauliflower until it is nice and soft, so that in the pan it melts to form a cream, to which add saffronbefore going to season the pasta.

The dish is already tasty, but we can finish with grated caciocavallo or pecorino.

Kurżità

There are many varieties of this curious vegetable on the market. White, purple, orange and green, to color our table, like a painter’s palette.