What I Ate This Week:
Cauliflower Ragu
Why it was awesome:
Minimal ingredients, great use of frozen cauliflower, incredible texture and “meatiness” while being relatively light. Was superb as leftovers. 10/10 from the husband.
The recipe, my way. Adapted from Molly Baz
Olive oil (at least ¼ cup)
1 bag frozen cauliflower (or 1 lb of cauli, cut into small pieces
1 onion, sliced thin pole-to-pole
3-4 cloves garlic, sliced thin
~8 anchovy filets
~1 cup dried porcini mushrooms
12 ounce can tomato sauce
1lb pasta (a fresh, sturdy pasta like rigatoni or campanelle works great here)
- Good glug of olive oil (2tb or so) in a large pan. Cook 1 bag of frozen cauliflower on med-high. Get a little color on it, and when it starts getting soft (15 minutes or so), mash it a little into bite sized pieces.
- Add onion
- Cook until the onion is getting soft and there is some color on the onion and cauliflower (another 5-10 minutes). Turn down the heat as necessary–you don’t want burnt color! You might need to add a bit more oil, or even a little water if things get too hot.
- While the onion is cooking with the cauliflower: Soak ~1 cup dried porchini mushrooms in 1 cup boiling water. When the mushrooms are soft (~5 minutes), Use scissors to cut them small (I just stick my scissors into the measuring cup and snip snip snip away. No need to dirty another cutting board)
- Add anchovy filets and garlic to the cauliflower mixture. Cook until the anchovies break down and the garlic is fragrant.
- Add mushrooms and the soaking liquid.
- Add one 12 ounce can tomato sauce. Bring to a simmer and stir occasionally.
- Keep cooking the sauce on low while you cook your pasta. You might need to add a little water to keep it from getting too thick.
- When the pasta is almost done, reserve -2 cups of pasta water. Add pasta and reserved water to sauce, along with ~1/4 cup good olive oil. Stir, cooking for a few more minutes until sauce is glossy and pasta is cooked through.