Pasta with Cauliflower, Anchovies and Fried Croutons

I'm trying desperately to start "meatless Monday's" around here but as you know the big guy is a carnivore through and through. I'm afraid I didn't change his mind any last night although he said he liked this dish.

From the famous Donatella Arpaia this pasta combines a toothy noodle (I used radiatore) with roasted cauliflower, garlic, zucchini, anchovies and crispy bread cubes for a simple and light flavor. Quite honestly I thought without our addition of red pepper flakes it was bland as milquetoast ...even though I added the whole can of anchovies AND ramped up the garlic. Guess it just goes to show you that our taste buds are rather highly toned (burned out) and/or we don't recognize good subtle flavor when we find it. For heavens sake if you're making this dish don't leave out the anchovies. Also, I think it would benefit with the addition of roasted red peppers and some sun dried tomatoes too and a word of warning - I cut the amount of pasta in half and left the other ingredients the same. Judge for yourself but be forewarned - if you use the whole pound of pasta you'll have enough for an entire football team which would be rather interesting since I'm not sure any jock would much appreciate the lack of red meat anyway.

My opinion -  kick it to the curb, which is what I'll do when we finally get through the ton or so of leftovers. My apologies Donatella. Obviously your tastebuds are much more refined than mine are. Bahh!

Comments

[pam]

I did a cauliflower/pasta recipe on my blog that was fantastic. I think it had raisins and pine nuts, and was a Tyler Florence recipe. If you get a chance, give it a try.

[June]

Thanks Pam, I will. I'll check it out on your blog first! ...love, love, love your blog and you're right. Your recipe looks fab ...I'll be giving it a try before I give up on cauliflower in pasta.

[Mags]

I hate it when a pasta dish doesn't live up to expectations (especially when they always sound so good!) And I know you're like me and hate to throw away leftovers, so we stand in front of the fridge and stare at the bowl and sigh before taking it out and eating it anyway....lol

[June]

Mags - OK that does it! Get your darn video camera out'a my kitchen! LOLOL How did you know?