Cauliflower alla Parmigiana

FROM: Michael Chiarello's Casual Cooking Cookbook-Signed

Cauliflower is much more respected in Italy than it is in America, where its main role seems to be as an inexpensive filler on cruditı platters. Italians prefer to cook it with butter and Parmesan until it's richly browned and caramelized from its natural sweetness. This is the alla parmigiana method, and cauliflower is only one of many vegetables prepared this way. You can use the same technique on asparagus, broccoli, fennel, zucchini, Swiss chard stems, or artichokes.

Ingredients

Serves: Serves 4

Unsalted butter for the baking dish,
plus 2 1/2 tablespoons
1 cauliflower, about 1 1/2 pounds,
separated into large florets
Sea salt, preferably gray salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425ıF. Butter an 8-by-10-inch oval baking dish, or a dish of equivalent size.

Bring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil. Add the florets and boil until they are slightly softened but still retain some crispness, about 4 minutes. Drain well, then slice them lengthwise so the stems are about 1/4 inch thick.

Arrange the slices, overlapping them tightly, in the prepared baking dish. Season with salt and several grinds of black pepper, then dot with thin slices of butter, using 2 1/2 tablespoons. Sprinkle with the cheese.

Bake uncovered until lightly browned on top, about 30 minutes. Serve hot

In Print

This recipe can be seen in:

Michael Chiarello's Casual Cooking Cookbook-Signed