Eat your veggies. And eat your chicken. Or not. And your cheese. Or not. And your bread. Or not. Versatile Cauliflower gratin

 Ragazzi, Annalena has to tell you that her life with cauliflower is a very odd one.  As a young one, she hated cauliflower, and knew to "feel sick" when the (then) nauseating smell of cauliflower  was about the apartment, and Nana was making it (Eventually, Nana gave up, because none of us liked it.). Go forward many years, and  Annalena is now a co-ed, going to parties, and being exposed to this exotic food called "crudite."  Almost always, there were cauliflower florets.  And, since that was when Annalena realized, very simply, that if she was going to get horizontal with more than her pillow, she needed to lose some weight, she began to eat these things.  And she liked them.  So, she learned how to cook the beast, and ate it and loved it, for nigh on 30 years.

One night, however, out of the blue, it began to nauseate her again.  No explicable reason why, it just happened.  So, Annalena was off the stuff again, for about 2 years.  Then, one day, without being pregnant, she had , what was for her, an odd craving for the stuff.  So, it was back.  And it hasn't left since then.

It does seem that in one way or the other, cauliflower is always with us.  It was not always so:  one ate cauliflower in the cold weather, and that still feels pretty darn right to Annalena:  all those cruciferous vegetables (so called, ragazzi, because their flowers  have a center piece that is shaped like a cross) do grow better and taste better in the colder months; however,  newer strains of cauliflower now abound, and you can get it just about any time of year.  And sometimes, you get too much of it.  That is what happened to Annalena, as all of a sudden, her CSA went rampant with cauliflower.   So with 4 pounds of the stuff around, Annalena had to do something.  And she did.  She served it with pesto,  for dinner, and next, found an amazing recipe from the amazing Martha Rose Schulman which she modified - as she does - to make what you see above.

Now, let Annalena be clear about this:  this may very well be the easiest thing she has cooked this year.  In fact, she made it this morning before she came to work.  She started after 8a.m., and was on her train at 8:45.  So, you can do it.

Originally, this was a vegetarian recipe; however, Annalena was thinking in terms of her Guyman coming home from his workout and needing PROTEIN.  So, since she also had an abundance of chicken breasts in the house, they went into the dish as well.  You don't need to use them.  Annalena shall make this clearer as we go through the recipe, because in fact, you can pare this recipe down to the point where it's vegetarian.  Not so much vegan wise though.  Ok, here we go.

First of all, coat a 9x13 non reactive pan with olive oil.  Keep it to the side, and preheat your oven to 400.  Now, get yourself a 2-3 pound head of cauliflower (or smaller ones), and break it into bite sized florets/groups of florets:

 If you are choosing to go the meat route, then get yourself a pound and  a half of boneless, skinless chicken breasts.  Salt them, and cut the chicken into nice, big chunks.  Bigger than bite size.  Try to emulate the cauliflower florets.  Get these into a  pan with about 2 tablespoons of olive oil and let this sizzle, for about three minutes, and ONLY then, stir it around to cook the other side.  You want to get some color , and you don't want the chicken to disintegrate.  It will, if you do not wait until you get a sear:

 While the chicken is cooking, drop the cauliflower into a pot of boiling, salted water, and cook it for 5-7 minutes.  Then, drain the stuff:

 Here's a look at the chicken, just about cooked.  You will see that some of it is pink, and that's fine.  It's all going into the oven.

 Next, time for our sauce.  The original recipe called for fresh goat cheese, and yes, Annalena was awash in that, too.  Now, some of you do not care for goat cheese.  Use ricotta.  Or sour cream.  Something soft, and not very assertive. You need about 8 ounces of it.  Also, a half cup of milk, and a little fresh thyme.  If you have a food processor, get it all in there.  If you don't, ask for one for your birthday and in the interim, get yourself an arms workout, by stirring the stuff until it's smooth and liquid:

Then, combine the chicken and cauliflower (or, just the cauliflower), in the baking dish, and spread the cheese coating over it:

 Finalmente, if you are so inclined, spread about a half cup of dry bread crumbs over it, and sprinkle 1-2 tablespoons of good quality olive oil over the thing.

 Put this in the oven for 20 minutes, at 400 degrees, and:

Annalena then put the whole thing under the broiler for 2 minutes, to give it some color.  And here we are: 

A VERY easy , very generous dish, ragazzi.  Certainly one that will serve as an excellent meal with a little salad.  If you are so inclined, you may want to put some peas in with the cauliflower, to add some color, or some left over cooked greens (Hmmm.  Annalena should have remembered the ubiquitous kale in her fridge).  If you are eating it without the chicken, just eat more of it.

Don't forget to share it, ragazzi.  That's what we're all about, aren't we?

This weekend will be a festa della cibo di Sicilia at la casa Annalena, ragazzi, so keep your eyes peeled.  Alla prossima.