Sicilian-Syle Spaghetti - Tyler Florence

I've tossed around two different ways to introduce this post. One..Tyler Florence and his use of pans, or two...having a discriminating palate. Where to begin? Okay, let's start with Tyler. I love Tyler, so much so that I joined Tyler Florence Fridays and Tyler, well, Tyler loves his pots, pans and dishes. So, one of my first notes about this recipe, as I was making it, was that I will combine a few of the steps next time and save a few pots. There is a pot for the pasta, a saute pan for cauliflower, a cookie sheet for the breadcrumbs, and a bowl to toss it in. Now, Tyler doesn't mention the pine nuts, but they are supposed to be toasted, and I don't know about you, but mine don't come toasted, so there is a small skillet for that. I was even so cocky to mention in my notes that this may very well be "The Ultimate" way to make this, but that next time I will do it differently. Well, that was before I tasted it. Oh my gosh! This was wonderful. Seriously wonderful. So good, that I am afraid to change anything.

The second thing I wanted to mention was discriminating palates. Not that I have one or anything like that. But when I reheated this the next day at work, people were complaining that it smelled bad. I know cooked cauliflower may not have the most appetising aroma and then when I said that maybe they were smelling the anchovies, they looked at me aghast. I tried to argue that it was great, the combination of cauliflower, anchovies, raisins and pine nuts, was outstanding. Now they were really looking at me with disbelief, another teacher said that she didn't even know what a pine nut was. What's up with people and their lack of adventure in their cooking and eating??

Sicilian-Syle Spaghetti
from Tyler's Ultimate: Brilliant Simple Food to Make Any Time
Serves 4

Kosher salt
q head of cauliflower; cored and broken into small florets
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 anchovy fillets, mashed to a paste with the side of a large knife
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts

1/2 cup panko (Japanese bread crumbs)
Freshly ground black pepper

1 pound spaghetti
Leaves from 1/2 small bunch of parsley, chopped
juice of 1/2 a lemon
Freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese for serving

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil for the pasta. Preheat the oven to 350.

Saute the cauliflower and the anchovies in a saute pan in 1/4 cup of olive oil. Heat over medium heat until the oil is hot and the anchovies are sizzling. Add 1/4 cup of water and season with salt. Bring to a simmer, heat on medium, cover and and steam the cauliflower for about 5 minutes. Uncover and cook for about 5-7 minutes more until the water has evaporated and the cauliflower is starting to brown. Add the raisins and pine nuts and toss to warm through. Remove the pan from the heat and cover to keep warm.

ON a baking sheet, drizzle the panko with 2-3 tablespoons of the olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Toss to coat and spread out in a layer on a baking sheet. Bake for about 10 minutes or until it's lightly brown and crunchy.

Cook the spaghetti until al dente.

Drain the spaghetti and place in a large bowl. Add a 2 count of olive oil and toss. Dump in the cauliflower mixture, add the parsley and lemon juice, and fold together. Arrange on a plate and sprinkle with the bread crumbs and cheese.