pasta with cauliflower

I’ve been making this pasta for a very long time, probably since the 1980s, since it’s derived from a Marcella Hazan recipe. It’s dead simple — one of the things that I love about it — and you can pre-cook the cauliflower a day ahead or so if you’d like. I usually do the whole thing at once: cook the cauliflower in water, scoop it out and then, later, cook the pasta in the same water. It’s already boiling, and you want the taste of the cauliflower anyway, so why not?
The cauliflower gets cooked more, in a skillet with toasted garlic, so don’t boil it to death; you do want it to be tender, though. And in the original Minimalist recipe, from 2000, I added the bread crumbs to the skillet along with the cauliflower, but since I usually add some pasta water to the skillet to keep the mixture saucy, the bread crumbs become soggy. Better, then, to stir the bread crumbs in at the very end. They should be very coarse, ideally homemade, and if they’re toasted in olive oil in a separate skillet before you toss them in, so much the better.
For a while now I’ve been cooking pasta recipes with less pasta and more sauce. That’s a very personal decision, I know, but you could easily make this dish with half a pound of pasta and two pounds of cauliflower, and it would be excellent.

Pasta With Cauliflower

Yield 3 or 4 servings

Time About 40 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 head cauliflower, about 1 pound
• Salt and black pepper
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 pound penne, fusilli or other cut pasta
• 1 cup coarse bread crumbs.

Method

• 1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Trim the cauliflower, and divide it into florets. Add about a tablespoon of salt to the water, and boil the cauliflower in it until it is tender but not mushy. Using a slotted spoon or strainer, remove the cauliflower and set it aside. When it is cool enough to handle, chop it roughly into small pieces.
• 2. Meanwhile, in a large deep skillet over medium-low heat, saute garlic in olive oil, stirring occasionally, until garlic is golden. Start cooking pasta in same pot and same water as was used for the cauliflower.
• 3. When the garlic is ready, add the cauliflower to skillet, and turn heat to medium. Cook, stirring occasionally. When pasta is just about done — it should be two or three minutes short of the way you like it — drain it, reserving about a cup of cooking liquid.
• 4. Add pasta to skillet containing the cauliflower, and toss with a large spoon until they are well combined. Add salt and pepper to taste, along with just enough pasta water to keep the mixture moist but not soupy. When the mixture is hot and the pasta is tender and nicely glazed, mix in the bread crumbs.

SPAGHETTI AL LIMONE

1 lb spaghetti (457g) 1 garlic clove, for rubbing lemon juice from 2 lemons, freshly squeezed 5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (74ml) salt to season 1 cup parmigiano cheese, finely grated (235ml), plus extra for sprinkling a bunch of fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped the zest of 1 lemon, freshly grated

To start your Spaghetti al Limone:

Place spaghetti in a pot of boiling salted water and stir immediately to prevent from sticking. Cut garlic in half and rub exposed area along the interior of a large serving bowl. This way the flavour of raw garlic will cover the inside surface of the bowl. Discard the garlic. Add freshly squeezed lemon juice and slowly drizzle in extra virgin olive oil while stirring. Stir well until the ingredients have emulsified. Mix in salt and parmigiano cheese. When the spaghetti is al dente­, drain and add to the serving bowl. Mix well. Sprinkle with parmigiano cheese, parsley and lemon zest. Serve immediately.

Per 4 person

PASTA AL FORNO

1 lb rigatoni pasta (450g) 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (60ml) 2 garlic cloves, chopped 1 large eggplant, cubed 15 infornate olives, pitted and chopped 10 large sun-dried tomatoes, chopped 2 dried chili pepper, crushed (optional) 1 jar of tomato puree (750ml) 0.8lb freshly grated mozzarella (400g) smoked scamorza cheese, as much as desired, roughly chopped freshly grated parmigiano cheese for sprinklingsalt to taste

To start your Pasta al Forno:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. While the rigatoni cooks in salted boiling water, prepare the sauce. In a saucepan heat up olive oil and sautí garlic, eggplant, olives, sun-dried tomatoes and chili peppers for a few minutes. Add tomato puree and salt. Let cook for approximately 10 minutes on medium heat. Drain rigatoni, add to the saucepan, sprinkle with some parmigiano and cook for another 30 seconds. Place half the rigatoni in a baking dish, adding a layer of half of the mozzarella, half of the scamorza and another sprinkle of parmigiano cheese over the pasta. Add the remaining rigatoni, and follow with a final layer of all the cheeses. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes or until golden brown.

Per 4 persone

Grilled Chicken with Lemon Basil Pasta

from Pioneer Woman

Servings: 8

Ingredients

• 4 whole Grilled Chicken Breasts, Sliced
• 1 pound Penne Pasta, Cooked Until Al Dente
• ½ sticks Butter
• 3 whole Lemons, Juiced
• ¾ cups Heavy Cream
• ¼ cups Half-and-half
• 1-½ cup Grated Parmesan Cheese (or Romano)
• Salt And Freshly Ground Black Pepper, To Taste
• 20 whole Basil Leaves, Chopped

Preparation Instructions

Cook pasta, reserving 1 cup of hot pasta water when you drain. Set pasta aside in a colander.

In the same pot, melt butter over medium heat. Squeeze in the juice of 3 to 4 lemons. Whisk together. Pour in cream and half-and-heat. Whisk until hot. Dump in cheese and whisk until melted. Add salt and pepper. Check consistency, adding some of the hot pasta water to loosen the sauce if needed.

Pour pasta and sauce into a large serving bowl. Sprinkle remaining basil all over the top, then add sliced chicken breasts. Serve immediately!

Beef Stroganoff

from Saveur

1 1⁄2 lbs. filet of beef
6 tbsp. butter
Olive oil
2 tbsp. chopped green onions, white and
green parts
1⁄4 cup white wine or vermouth
A.1. sauce or worcestershire sauce
1 1⁄2 cups sour cream
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Chopped parsley
Cooked egg noodles

1. Cut the beef into very thin slices, or, as Beard recommends, ask your butcher to do it for you.

2. Melt 4 tbsp. of butter in the pan and get it as hot as you can without burning; if you add just a bit of olive oil to the butter it helps prevent it from turning brown. Sauté the beef slices in the hot fat very quickly. When they are delicately browned on both sides and done (this takes only a minute or two), remove them to a hot platter. Add remaining butter and the chopped green onions and cook for a minute. Then add white wine or vermouth and a dash or two of A.1. sauce or worcestershire sauce and the sour cream. Stir well and heat through, but do not boil, or the sour cream will curdle. Salt to taste and pour the sauce over the beef. Top with a sprinkling of freshly ground pepper and chopped parsley. Serve atop egg noodles.

SERVES 6 – 8

Shepherd’s-Style Rigatoni with Ricotta and Sausage

from Saveur

Kosher salt, to taste
1 lb. rigatoni
1 lb. hot Italian sausage, removed from casing
2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1 lb. cows' milk or sheep's milk ricotta
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 tbsp. roughly chopped parsley
1/4 cup torn basil leaves
1/2 cup grated pecorino cheese, to garnish

1. Bring 5 quarts lightly salted water to a boil in an 8-quart pot over high heat. Add the pasta and cook, stirring occasionally, until al dente, about 12 minutes. Ladle out and reserve 1 cup pasta water. Drain and reserve pasta.

2. Meanwhile, break the sausage into small, olive-size chunks. Heat the olive oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add the sausage and cook, stirring occasionally, until brown and cooked through, about 10 minutes. Discard grease and set sausage aside in skillet.

3. Put the ricotta into a large bowl. Add pepper, to taste. Whisk 1/4 cup of the hot pasta water into the ricotta to make it creamy and saucy. Over high heat, add the pasta to the skillet with the sausage and 1/2 cup pasta water; stir vigorously to combine. Transfer the pasta and sausage to the bowl with the ricotta and mix well, adding some of the reserved pasta cooking water as needed to moisten the pasta. Stir in parsley and basil. Spoon the pasta into bowls and sprinkle with the pecorino and black pepper.

SERVES 4 – 6

Angel Hair Pasta with Bacon and Peas

from Bitten Word

Serves 4 to 6

* Coarse salt and ground pepper
* 4 slices bacon, sliced crosswise into 1/2-inch pieces
* 2 shallots, halved and thinly sliced
* 1 box (10 ounces) frozen peas, thawed
* 1 cup half-and-half
* 18 ounces fresh angel-hair pasta

Directions

1. Set a large pot of salted water to boil. In a large skillet, cook bacon over medium until crisp, 5 to 7 minutes. With a slotted spoon, transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate to drain (leave fat in skillet).
2. Add shallots to skillet; season with salt and pepper. Cook over medium, stirring occasionally, until they begin to soften, 1 to 2 minutes. Add peas and half-and-half; season with salt and pepper. Simmer until slightly thickened, about 2 minutes.
3. Cook pasta in boiling water until al dente, according to package instructions. Reserve 1/2 cup pasta water; drain pasta, and return to pot. Pour sauce over pasta; toss to combine, adding some reserved pasta water a little at a time to coat. Sprinkle with bacon, and serve immediately.