Viva Italia!

"Consider your origin; you were not born to live like brutes, but to follow virtue and knowledge." - Dante's Divine Comedy

We all get stuck in ruts when it comes to the food we eat, but there's nothing wrong with a good routine. One of my go-to recipes is this cauliflower pasta recipe which is cheap, fresh, and healthy (not to mention extremely addictive). It's good for lunch, as left-overs, or even for an easy dinner among friends. Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 pounds tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped
1 head cauliflower, broken into florets
1/2 cup very hot water
2 tablespoons salt
1 pound dry penne
1/2 cup chopped flat-leaf Italian parsley
Freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

Directions:
In a 12 to 14-inch saute pan, heat olive oil over medium heat and add garlic. Cook gently until softened and very light golden brown, then add tomatoes and cook, stirring, until tomatoes begin to break down. Add cauliflower and mix well. Stir in 1/2 cup very hot water and simmer for 30 minutes, or until cauliflower is tender.

Bring 6 quarts of water to a boil and add 2 tablespoons salt. Add the penne, and cook according to package directions, until tender yet al dente.

Drain the penne and add to the pan with the cauliflower. Stir in parsley and black pepper, to taste, and toss 1 minute over high heat. Divide evenly among 6 warmed pasta bowls, top with grated cheese, and serve immediately.

I never have 2 lbs of tomatoes so sometimes my dish is kind of anemic looking...but it still tastes good. One thing is for sure, you have to use fresh tomatoes. I've tried it with canned and it doesn't work. The canned tomatoes don't have enough moisture to cook the cauliflower and it just doesn't taste as good. The best time to make this is in the summer when you have huge fresh tomatoes at your disposal, but you can definitely find ways to make this year-round.



I splurged and bought a bottle of wine...Italian this time! My family has been going to the same Italian restaurant for 28 years and every time I hear my dad order a Montepulciano (or alternatively, Chianti). So I decided to find out what that actually tastes like. The one I got was a 2007, $10.99 at Whole Foods, and totally nom-worthy. Really juicy, medium bodied, with a slight bite. Wikipedia describes Montepulciano as "easy-drinking," which I can now verify as true if you know what I mean... :)