Cauliflower Spaghetti “Aglio Olio” - Hello Old Friend

Well, I thought I had found them all, but this clip that I posted on YouTube a long time ago never made it to this blog. So, while some of you may have watched it there, here is the official article and recipe ingredient list. As you watch, it will be obvious this was done long before the new equipment and it sure looks and sounds like it. I mean I didn’t even wear a Chef jacket back then! But, it really is a great (and easy) recipe and I hope you give it a try.

In my opinion, one of life’s simple pleasures is the classic spaghetti “aglio olio.” Pasta tossed with lots of garlic, oil, and maybe some butter and cheese. For those of us that grew up in Italian-American homes, this might have been the first pasta dish we ever tasted. My mother did a variation on this comfort classic by adding chopped cauliflower which as a youngster I always enjoyed. Like most kids I hated cauliflower in any other form, but for some reason when it was in spaghetti “aglio olio” it was delicious! One health tip: if you want to lower the calories in this dish, you can cut down the oil and butter a bit and add more pasta water to lighten the recipe. Having said that, don’t do it.

For whatever reason, as an adult I kind of forgot about this dish. For me, the cauliflower area of the produce section is certainly not a destination by any means. During a phone call with mom she told me she couldn’t talk any longer as she was just about to drain some pasta for this dish. It brought back so many happy food memories that I ran out and got some cauliflower and went to work. It had probably been 7 or 8 years since I had made this pasta dish and I savored every bite. It was like running into a dear old friend you haven’t seen for a very long time. Enjoy!



Ingredients:
1 large head of cauliflower
1 pound spaghetti
1/3 cup olive oil
1/2 stick butter
6 cloves crushed garlic
1/3 cup finely grated parmesan cheese
1 tsp red pepper flakes
salt to taste
1/4 cup chopped basil and/or Italian parsley