Cooking with Cauliflower

Cauliflower is not to everyones taste, and it’s not to mine either. The one way I will eat cauliflower is if its an ingredient in Thai green curry. D loves cauliflower, it’s one of his favourite vegetables especially when I make my mothers vegetarian special: gobi, muttar and aloo salan also know as cauliflower, pea and potato curry. The smell of cooking cauliflower also puts people off. I have found that adding a bay leaf or two during the cooking process of cauliflower does somewhat reduce that smell lingering in the air.

Like many others am so bored of the usual cauliflower dishes such as cauliflower cheese, cauliflower soup or the chefy cauliflower puree, as a consequence other chefs and cooks have tried new ways to rejuvenate interest in the vegetable. An example is Ferran Adria's El Bulli cauliflower cous cous that has excited even the most accomplished of chefs.
So after some procrastination and looking into my cupboards for inspiration, this is what I decided on. Cauliflower, caper and chilli pasta. Exciting huh?

Cauliflower, caper and chilli pasta
Serves 2
Ingredients
4 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
7 - 8 tablespoons of olive oil
Small Cauliflower
1 tablespoon of capers, minced
1 teaspoon of chilli flakes or to taste
1- 2 tablespoons of black olives, chopped (optional)
Seasoning to taste
Chopped Parsley
Method
Cooked Pasta of choice, I used penne, but farfalle would be nice too,
In a large pot, put pasta onto cook until al dente. Drain.

Cut the cauliflower in half, and then in quarter. Now slice each quarter as thinly as you can, don’t worry about the small pieces of florets that fall off as your cutting the cauliflower, add this to the cooking as well.

In a large frying pan, add garlic to cold oil and heat up, till translucent and flavours begin to infuse, be careful not to brown the garlic.

Add chilli flakes and cauliflower slithers and cook for about 8 – 10 few minutes until you begin to smell the aromas and the cauliflower is beginning to cook through. Then stir the minced capers and olives and cook until well coated.

Tip in cooked pasta and parsley and stir thoroughly. Serve.