Cauliflower, love and hate
Many people do not like the smell, perhaps more for a food education speech than anything else: if a mother does not like cooking cauliflower, it is clear that even the child and the future adult will grow up with the distorted idea of ​​the series " cauliflower stinks, I don't like it, I can't stand the texture ”.
Fortunately, there are schools and kindergartens that include cauliflower in their weekly menu, making it known and appreciated by children from an early age. Very rich in beneficial and precious substances cauliflower, seasoned and lightly prepared, is a panacea even for older people.
Whether loved or hated, the cauliflower it is essentially one of them vegetables essential to protect the body: rich in minerals and vitamin C, cauliflowers are indeed foods antioxidants and anti-inflammatories, which can help in the prevention of many ailments, from colds to hypertension, cardiovascular disease and even diabetes.
Better to consume it in season, even raw, without leaving it in the refrigerator for more than five days, to make the most of its properties; cauliflower, with its only 25 calories per 100 grams of food, it is perfect for low-calorie diets, also considering its enormous satiating power.
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Once a week, how do I cook your cauliflower
Cooking the cauliflower it often makes it difficult when you do not want to create bad smells in the house and in the doubt of not knowing how to use it in tasty and original recipes.
To remedy the smell, it can be cooked steam in a pressure cooker, just a little water under the basket and a few minutes; or, following the old methods of the grandmother, when it cooks it is put on on the lid a piece of bread soaked in white wine vinegar.
To cook it in the most appetizing ways, you can try the simple gratin cauliflower - previously steamed and then put to cook in the oven simply with salt, extra virgin olive oil, bread and grated Parmesan cheese -, to cauliflower patties, until the cauliflower couscous o pasta with tomato and cauliflower e risotto with cauliflower, smoked cheese and poppy seeds. It is also excellent in more "exotic" versions, or accompanied by spices such as curry, saffron or turmeric, as in the Indian parotha with cauliflower.
Special cauliflower pasta
A simple first course, but mouth-watering, excellent for children and also for adults who have never learned to eat these special gifts of the earth.
Ingredients for 3/4 people
> 1/2 cauliflower;
> 280/300 grams of short pasta (such as mezze penne, tortiglioni, macaroni);
> fresh or canned tomatoes in chunks;
> 1 rump of garlic;
> 1/2 white onion;
> fresh basil;
> sale;
> extra virgin olive oil;
> pepe;
> grated parmesan (or its substitutes) to taste.
Preparation
Steam the cauliflower for about 7 minutes from the whistle. Sauté in a pan with a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil, the crushed garlic slice (which will then be removed), the chopped onion and the pieces of tomato. Leave to cook for about ten minutes, covering and adding the necessary water and a couple of pinches of salt. Aside, cook the pasta al dente and strain it, leaving a little cooking water on the bottom. Sauté in a pan for a couple of minutes with the rest of the ingredients, its water, freshly ground black pepper, a few leaves of fresh basil and a handful of grated Parmesan.
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