This was a supper for my mum and me over Christmas when my dad and brothers were not at home and we needed a break from an intense few days of eating meat and fish.
This served two
Ingredients:
1 head of cauliflower, broken into florets
5 anchovies
1 clove garlic
1 teaspoon chilli flakes
handful of breadcrumbs
handful of toasted hazelnuts (toast by putting in a dry pan over low/medium heat until they smell toasty, remove and rub in a tea towel to remove skins)
lots of olive oil
½ lemon
enough spaghetti, or other pasta for two (about 100g/person)
How I made it:
Cook cauliflower florets in boiling, salted water until tender but still firm (stick in a knife to check). Drain. In a pestle and mortar (or on a chopping board if you don’t have one) pound together anchovies and garlic with some salt. Put on salted water for the pasta to boil now – there should be about 1lt. water/100g pasta. Add to a large frying pan with about six-eight tablespoons of olive oil (this is essentially the sauce component of the dish) and chilli flakes. Turn on a low heat, when it becomes aromatic and the anchovy is dissolving in the oil add the cooked cauliflower. Toss the cauliflower in the oil and keep on a low heat. Add pasta to the fiercely boiling, salted water. Now in another frying pan put your breadcrumbs with another few tablespoons of olive oil on a low heat and cook until they’re crisp and golden. Drain pasta. Combine pasta with cauliflower, breadcrumbs, hazelnuts and a good squeeze of lemon. Toss all the ingredients together. Season well and add more olive oil if necessary.
Eaten with:
Salad, white wine.
Dinner Document 