Cauliflower Puttanesca

There isn’t a huge amount to say about this dish really. Ultimately I love the punchy & rugged flavours of puttanesca: salty olives, piquant capers, tangy tomatoes and whereas my usual (and much loved) version of this has tuna, on this occasion i wanted something vegetarian. Of course I do have a bit of a soft spot for cauliflower as well so I thought this may fit the bill quite nicely. And it did.


Cauliflower “Puttanesca”
serves 2

175g pasta
1 tbsp olive oil
½ head cauliflower, cut into small florets
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 clove garlic, thinly sliced
150g tomatoes, chopped
1 tsp sun-dried tomato paste
60g black olives, pitted & roughly chopped
1 tbsp capers, rinsed
¼ tsp red pepper flakes
1 tbsp parsley, finely chopped
Parmesan, grated, to serve

Cook the pasta according to the package directions

Meanwhile, heat the oil in sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add the cauliflower with a pinch of salt and pepper and cook tossing occasionally for about 5 minutes, until golden.

Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for about a minute until fragrant. 

Add the tomatoes, olives, capers, tomato paste and crushed red pepper.

Cook stirring occasionally until the cauliflower is tender and the tomatoes are breaking down. About 10 minutes more.

Drain the pasta, reserving a little of the cooking water and toss the pasta with the sauce, adding a little of the drained water to loosen.

Serve topped with the parsley and Parmesan.