Sicilian Pasta With Cauliflower Recipe (2024)

If you leave out the cheese and use olives in the sauce instead of anchovies, this is a superior vegan dish.

This was one of my favorite pasta dishes, growing up in Sicily! In my family we served it with a sprinkling of toasted bread crumbs, which added an extra textural dimension to this already fabulous dish!

Used capers instead of anchovies to make it vegetarian. May have to double the recipe next time it was so good.

This is a terrific recipe. We are eating it during the coronavirus epidemic and it’s giving us something to live for.

Add some capers!

yes, use 28 oz of tomatoes for a large head of cauliflower and increase garlic and anchovies and add capers for more flavor.

I’ve been making the David Rosengarten version of this recipe from the Dean and Deluca cookbook for years, and it’s a favorite. His ingredients list includes a thinly sliced red onion, bay leaves, a splash of sherry vinegar at the end, and finely chopped parsley instead of basil. It makes all the difference to this cook!

For a WFPB (whole food plant based) version: I left out the canned tomatoes and added 1/2 pint of golden cherry tomatoes. Instead of anchovies, I added some capers, caper juice, white miso. I used the cauiflower / pasta cooking water instead of olive oil. I added a bit of vegan parmesan cheese. Served with garlic bread and some honey squash, roasted whole and then some vegan butter with a touch of cinnamon, cardamom and a little maple syrup. AWESOME!!

To save time, I broke the cauliflower to the small florets before precooking and took them out slightly underdone. I finished the cauliflower in the sauce to finish while cooking the pasta. No cold shock was needed. This took about 30 min to put together. Modifications for taste: I added about 1/4 tsp of cinnamon and used a small amount of turmeric instead of saffron (which I don't care for). Instead of chopped tomatoes, I used some slightly watery homemade tomato sauce. Yum!

Are the raisins/currants a Must Include? Because...no. Otherwise, looks great.

For vegans: substitute anchovies with miso and toasted nori.

Miso and toasted nori for vegans

I read the comments which were very helpful. I opted to roast my cauliflower which made it very flavorful and added some texture to the dish. As suggested, I added more garlic, some olives, some red pepper flakes and some capers. I used anchovie paste because that's what I had on hand. I also toasted some panko crumbs to sprinkle on top. Will definitely make this again - my husband and I both LOVED it!

Made many additions/revisions that other reviewers had mentioned including capers, and toasted breadcrumbs. Recipe would benefit from additional garlic, currants/raisins and other seasoning.

Ok. Added extra garlic, capers, and green olives, and topped with basil but still lacking depth, as others have mentioned. EVOO garnish helped, but sauce may have benefited from sitting overnight to meld. Also, add pine nuts closer to the end so they don't get soppy.

Double the garlic, added to teaspoons of chili pepper flakes, an extra 3 ounces of tomato sauce that was already garlic infused, sour cherries will do, in fact it was sweet and bright, add a tiny squeeze of lemon at the end as well as extra-virgin olive oil.

I’ve been making the David Rosengarten version of this recipe from the Dean and Deluca cookbook for years, and it’s a favorite. His ingredients list includes a thinly sliced red onion, bay leaves, a splash of sherry vinegar at the end, and finely chopped parsley instead of basil. It makes all the difference to this cook!

Tasty, but needs some work to become saucy -- it takes more than just adding tomatoes! To cook the cauliflower, follow Marcella Hazan's instructions: cut the cauliflower head into halves and boil it for 25-30 min. Drain and set aside, no cold water treatment. She uses more garlic and (6) anchovies. After putting the cauliflower in the pan, concentrate on breaking it up quickly with a fork or wooden spoon. Marcella's sauce isn't Sicilian, and I liked the addition of raisins, saffron and tomato.

Yep, that was better than I expected.I basically took all the advice in the comments. Used the big can of tomatoes, double the garlic, more anchovies, added capers. Didn't bother with herbs and subbed parm cheese. Plenty of pepper. Gotta have the pine nuts and glug of EVOO on top to serve.

I’ve made this twice and the second time was much better. I let it cook much longer when all together for an extra 20 minutes and it allowed the flavors to develop. I also salted much more generously.

This one was disappointing. There are so many strong, great flavors, but somehow, the finished product was bland. That’s despite doubling the garlic and the cheese. It really fell flat. If I were to make it again (which I won’t), I would consider adding tomato paste and red pepper flakes.

This was good but not spectacular. Next time double the garlic. The crunchy bread crumbs are a great addition.