CAULIFLOWER ALL IN THE POT

(Broccolo a Tutto Dentro)

Serves 6

1 large cauliflower

5-6 tablespoons olive oil

150 g/5 oz pitted black olives

150 g/5 oz fresh caciocavallo cheese, diced

8 anchovy fillets, cut in small pieces

125 ml/4 fl oz red wine

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Wash the cauliflower and divide it into florets. Drain well.

Sprinkle the bottom of a heavy, deep saucepan with the olive oil, and cover with a layer of cauliflower. Cover this with a third of the olives, a third of the cheese, and a third of the anchovies. Repeat until the four ingredients are “all in the pot.” Cover tightly and cook over a very low flame for 10 minutes. Add the wine, then replace the cover and continue cooking for 10 to 20 minutes longer. When the cauliflower is tender, add some black pepper and correct the salt. Serve immediately.

Note: It is important to use a very fresh, young cauliflower for this recipe. In Sicily it should be attempted only with winter cauliflowers, since in the Sicilian climate,“after Easter, sermons and cauliflowers lose their flavour.”

It is, incidentally, easy to be misled by the Palermo habit of calling cauliflower broccolo, whereas its dark-green cousin, known elsewhere as “broccoli,” here is known as sparaceddi.

Cauliflower reaches its greatest glory when served with pasta. I was amused to discover a recipe in Apicius that calls for cauliflower “covered with boiled spelt [a variety of wheat] and pine nuts and sprinkled with raisins,” followed by a note in which the translator declares that “the Apician formula with cereal and raisins added is too exotic for our modern taste.” Were Mr. Vehling still alive I would invite him to Palermo to try this classic: