Some of you may have noticed that Annalena has been a little obsessed with cauliflower as of late. She confesses to that. Apparently, her obsession IS shared, as she saw one article that referred to cauliflower as "the new kale." Well, Annalena could not be happier about that, since kale is not one of her favorites, by any stretch of the imagination.
There have been periods in Annalena's life when she simply COULD NOT STAND cauliflower, to the point where looking at it would make her ill. Well, clearly that has changed.
Recently, Melissa Clark, one of Annalena's favorite food writers, posted this recipe. She pointed out that cauliflower is with us through the winter (indeed it is), whereas Annalena's beloved eggplant is going to be gone very soon. So, for those of you who are trying to eat closer to the source, here we go. Annalena will point out, along the way, where she used local products. She will also announce, at the start , that this recipe presupposes that you have tomato sauce on hand. If you do not, why not? And if you do not, MAKE SOME. Annalena has given you several recipes on this blog, you can look up Marcella's superb and simple recipe, and you can make it from other recipes as well. You will need at least a quart, a quart and a half is better.
First, we start with the cauliflower. Annalena used her favorite golden cauliflower, but you should fee free to use white, or green. She is not too sure about the purple one.
Use a BIG one - 3 pounds or so. Cut it into florets, but not dainty ones:
You are going for something the size of a small meatball. Also, because you will be frying, and it is harder to fry something round than it is to fry something flat, and you already have to deal with all the crenulations on the cauliflower, slice the florets in half as best as you can.
We now set up Annalena's modified fry station. Here, we are using the classic formula for parmagiana, of flour, egg, and bread crumbs. If you are cramped for kitchen space (who isn't), you can avoid the full set up, by putting your cauliflower in a bag, with 1/2 cup of well seasoned unbleached flour. Half a cup is all you need. It's much more important that the bag be big enough, and not have a hole in it:
You can put that aside while you beat four large eggs with a little salt in a large plate or bowl, and pour 3 cups of bread crumbs into another one. Put some salt there. Have a tray ready to receive all of the cauliflower as you coat it, and preheat your oven to 400.
Now, here we go. Shake that cauliflower in that bag. Take out a few pieces at a time, and dip them in the egg. Dip them completely. Then, move them to the breadcrumbs, and roll them to coat. A pair of kitchen tongs is a big help here, but it is not at all necessary:
Because we have coated these guys with breadcrumbs, we can take a break if we want to. We will continue here, however. You need to put about 1/2 cup of oil into a big pan, and here, you can and should use olive oil. The cauliflower is not going to cook for very long, smoke point will not be an issue, and your dish will taste SO much better.
You can tell when the oil is hot enough to fry, via a very simple test. Take a kitchen implement with a wooden handle, and turn it upside down in the oil. Watch for bubbles to form around the wood. Little tiny ones. When that happens, it's ready.
As observed, fry these a few at a time:
If your oil is hot enough, they will brown very quickly, and you should turn them over, and on their side, to get them completely brown:
At a distance, it is very hard NOT to think these are pieces of chicken breast. But they are not.
We are now going to assemble the dish. Get a 9x13 non reactive (non metallic) pan, and put about a cup of sauce into it. Then add 1/3 cup of grated parmesan. Now add half the cauliflower. Put about half a pound of small pieces of mozzarella on this, and add more parmesan.
A very quick digression on the mozzarella here. It can be mind boggling as to the different kinds of mozzarella there are now. Annalena used a local mozzarella, made by a farm called Riverine Ranch. It is buffalo, firm, and not too salty. That is what you want. This will be the least expensive variety of mozzarella you will find: sometimes called "fior di latte." Save the burrata and other fancier ones, for salad.
So you've layered sauce, cauliflower, mozzarella, and parmesan. Now put down another couple of cups of sauce, and then the rest of the cauliflower. What you'll find is that the cauliflower sort of "sorts" itself and fills in the spaces. That's those crenulations gang. You finish off with more mozzarella, more sauce, and finish with parmesan.
Get this into the oven, for forty minutes. You are going to get something which looks, at least to Annalena, like meatball parmesan (which is American, not Italian):
This certainly looks like something Annalena wants to eat, and it is. She can't wait.
So if you have your non vegan vegetarian to feed, who doesn't fear the "warning: this cheese contains dairy," you're in business.
Make it ragazzi. You will LOVE it.
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