Seasonal Vegetables: Twice-cooked Cauliflower

At the weekly markets, you can tell the real farmers as they only have what is in season.The stands with bananas and pineapple simply buy their products and resell at the wholesale market, which makes it hard to really know what is in season. Even Italy has access now to out of season produce from other areas. But there is nothing like eating something just as it was harvested and not spent time in a storage space. Right now we have really wonderful seasonal vegetables, kale, broccoli, cardoons, cauliflower which caught my eye this time at the market for a recipe I adore. I gave you the vegetarian recipe, but it is also wonderful with crumbled sausage in the sauce as well.

We have two market days in my village of Certaldo, Wednesday is the larger market which also has clothing, plants, prepared food and the fresh fruit and vegetable vendors. Saturday morning the tiny market is in front of City Hall and has fewer vegetable stands and our local shepherd/cheesemaker. Download my app TASTE CHIANTI to know where the markets are.

I have a couple of ways I like to make cauliflower, one is sort of new, which I found online and is batter baked with a dipping sauce to make vegetarian “wings”.

Today I went old school and made Cavolfiore Strascicato, twice-cooked cauliflower in a spicy tomato sauce. I make the tomato sauce like I do for Baccala alla Livornese or Bracciole Rifatte, with a garlic,chili pepper base, sauteed in extra virgin olive oil then canned tomatoes, San Marzano, which I crush.

At the market, where I get my farm raised fruits and vegetables, the cauliflower still has its protective leaves on, which I like to cook together. It is wonderful.

The cauliflower is broken into flowerettes, parboiled in salted water with the leaves, then drained and added into the sauce.

Cook together to let the water evaporate and the sauce to be absorbed into the cauliflower.

It is even better the next day.

When the cauliflower is tender, add to the tomato sauce, stir gently to cover the cauliflower with sauce. I cut the leaves into small bites, using my kitchen scissors.

I adore having lots of vegetables cooked in my fridge and making a meal of mixing and matching them. Boiled, steamed, sauteed, baked or fried.

 

Cavolfiore Strascicate

1 cauliflower, with leaves if possible, broken into florettes

1 can san marzano tomatoes or plum tomatoes

1 clove garlic, sliced

chili pepper, to taste. I use two tiny dried bird’s eye chili peppers

extra virgin olive oil

salt

 

I like to parboil the cauliflower florets first, if you also have the leaves, boil them too in salted water.

Drain the cauliflower.

In a large flat pan, saute garlic slices and chili pepper in olive oil, until the garlic just turns golden.

Move off the heat and add the can of tomatoes.

Smash the tomatoes and salt to taste.

Once the sauce has cooked down some, add the drained cauliflower and stir gently to cover the cauliflower in sauce.

 

Some additions might be black olives or capers.