Cookbook Club – Six Seasons
Six Seasons: A New Way with Vegetables was our cookbook for February. It progresses from spring to early summer to midsummer to late summer to autumn to winter, but since almost all of us were drawn to summer recipes rather than winter ones, we probably should have waited to use this cookbook. Still, we had a lovely meal, which you can check out on my Cookbook Club site. For now – my dish!
Cauliflower is a midsummer vegetable, but it’s in the supermarkets year-round here. One night about a week ago I was trying to decide what to make for dinner, and decided to flip through Six Seasons since I’d just picked it up from the library in preparation for the upcoming Cookbook Club. I ended up making the Fried Cauliflower with Spicy Fish-Sauce Sauce. It was incredible. I couldn’t stop thinking about it. Which I guess got me on a cauliflower kick, because then I decided to make the Cauliflower Ragu for Cookbook Club.
I heated olive oil, garlic, and red pepper flakes in a Dutch oven.
I had cut a head of cauliflower into small florets and chopped the stem into small chunks. I added a diced yellow onion and 2/3 of the cauliflower florets and the stems to the Dutch oven.
I stirred in white wine, water, salt, pepper, and a sprig of rosemary. I covered and simmered for 25 minutes, occasionally stirring and smashing the cauliflower.
I then added the remaining cauliflower and another half cup of water, and cooked another 20 minutes.
While the cauliflower cooked, I boiled fusilli until 2 minutes shy of al dente, drained, and set aside.
To the cauliflower I added the cooked pasta, lemon juice, butter, and parmesan cheese.
At this point, the recipe said to taste and adjust with more salt, lemon, pepper, or cheese. After doubling the lemon juice and adding quite a bit more salt and pepper, the dish finally got to be decently tasty, though certainly nothing to write home about. I won’t be drooling over my memories of the Cauliflower Ragu the way I am over the Fried Cauliflower with Spicy Fish-Sauce Sauce. I should note though that the flavors really came together over time, so the leftovers were actually better than the freshly cooked dish.
