“Pasta with Roman Cauliflower and Anchovies” recipe

Instructions

• 1.

  Putting the water to boil and toasting the breadcrumbs

  • Extra virgin olive oil - 50gr
  • Water 5lt
  • Suited Garlic - 3 cloves
  • Breadcrumbs - 60gr
  • Black pepper corns - 3gr

  Put the frying pan over a medium high heat let let it get hot enough. Then add in the breadcrumbs and toast them stirring continuously until they brown. Set aside (step 1 - pic. A).
  Put the saucepan with the water over a high heat and let it come to the boil. Then, put the frying pan with the extra virgin olive oil and the garlic cloves over a low heat (step 1 - pic. B).
  Meanwhile, finely crush the black pepper corns with pestle and mortar and set aside (step 1 - pic. C).
  

• 2.

  Boiling the Roman Cauliflower

  • The boiling water
  • Salt - 35gr
  • Romano Cauliflower - 350gr

  While the water comes to the boil, cut the cauliflower florets, peel the stalk and dice it. Rinse the cauliflower under running water (step 2 - pic. A).
  When the water starts boiling, add the salt, then put the cauliflower on a steaming basket and immerse it into the water (step 2 - pic. B).
  The cauliflower florets will be ready in 6 to 8 minutes.
  

• 3.

  Cooking the anchovies, breadcrumbs and chili pepper

  • Anchovies - 20gr
  • Red chili pepper (fresh or dry)
  • The toasted breadcrumbs - 30gr [part 1 of 3]

  Slightly increase the heat under the frying pan and add the anchovies to the hot oil. Stir and let them dissolve completely (step 3 - pic. A).
  Meanwhile, mince the red chili pepper, then add it to the frying oil together with about 30gr of toasted breadcrumbs (step 3 - pic. B).
  

• 4.

  Adding the boiled Roman Cauliflower

  • The breadcrumbs and anchovies base
  • The boiled Roman Cauliflower
  • The toasted breadcrumbs - 10gr [part 2 of 3]

  Set the heat to the minimum power under the frying pan. Strain the cauliflower out of the water and add it directly into the frying pan (step 4 - pic. A).
  Stir evenly and add about 10gr of toasted breadcrumbs. Stir evenly and keep the heat to the minimum (if the cauliflower dries too much, add some cooking liquor) (step 4 - pic. B).
  

• 5.

  Cooking the Paccheri pasta and binding it ith the sauce

  • The boiling salted water (the one used for the cauliflower)
  • Paccheri - 240gr (or rigatoni, calamarata, bucatini)
  • The cauliflower sauce
  • The toasted breadcrumbs - 20gr [part 3 of 3]

  Drop the paccheri pasta into the boiling water. Stir frequently to prevent the pasta stick to each other and to the bottom of the pan (step 5 - pic. A).
  The pasta will be ready and “al dente” in 10 to 11 minutes, but you will need to take it out of the water just one or two minutes earlier.
  Using a skimmer, strain the pasta directly into the frying pan. Increase the heat and set it to the maximum power. Add one or two ladles of cooking liquor, stir and mix evenly the pasta and the sauce (step 5 - pic. B).
  Let the liquids reduce to a half (if the pasta needs to cook a little longer, keep adding cooking liquor ladle by ladle) (step 5 - pic. C).
  Add the remaining bread crumbs, stir and let them absorb the juices almost completely: the sauce still need to be moist, so you might need to add some extra liquor to it (step 5 - pic. D).
  Set aside for a couple of minutes and serve.
  

  Note about salt and water for pasta
  

  If you think you might forget to salt water before adding pasta, you can salt water right after putting it on heat. This can become a safe routine, but the commonly unknown result of this is that it will require a longer time to come to the boiling temperature of 100ºC. It would be better instead to wait for the boiling to start and then carefully add the salt. The addiction of salt at this stage causes a sudden increase of the temperature of the solution for a couple of seconds during which the water increases the bubbling and risks to pour out if the pan’s sides are not sufficiently high.
  So the right pan should be taller than its diameter and capacious enough to contain a good amount of water.
  The minimum ratio between water and pasta is 1lt every 100gr. Although, for small amount of pasta it’s better to use a fairly large and deep pan which will keep the water to temperature also after dropping the pasta in. So that’s why I prefer to use 5lt of water even just to cook a single portion of pasta.
  Another important detail of which to take care, is the right quantity of salt to add to the water. It depends on the quantity of salt the condiment for pasta is going to contain and the cooking time that pasta requires; not only on your personal taste.
  A normal dose of salt is 11-12gr per litre of water and it can be increased to a maximum of 14-15gr for those who like their food to be particularly savoury. When using ingredients which are already salty themselves, like bacon or ham, the dose can be lowered to a minimum of 9-10gr per litre of water, as well as when you know that you will bind pasta with a lot of its own cooking water.
  Keep also in mind that longer cooking time require smaller doses of salt whereas quicker cooking will need a larger dose.

  Note about the correct cooking point "al dente”
  

  “Al dente” literally means “to the tooth”. It indicates the perfect consistency that pasta, or any other food, should have at the end of the cooking process: not too soft and not too hard at chewing. Pasta cooked “al dente” maintains a harder consistency at the centre of the dough sheet which gives the diners a pleasant feeling of “biting” rather than “mushing” something under their teeth..

• Servings : 4
• Ready in : 40
• Course : Starter
• Recipe Type : Classic Italian dish, Dry pasta recipes, Pasta, Regional
• Ingredient : Anchovies, Black Pepper, Bread, Breadcrumbs, Chili Pepper, Dry Pasta, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Garlic, Paccheri pasta, Roman Cauliflower, Salt, Water