Recipe Snapshot
- Dish: Shell pasta with tender cauliflower florets and sweet and savory Sicilian-style accents
- Flavor Profile: Savory anchovies balanced by saffron, raisins, toasted pine nuts, and tomato
- Key Ingredient: Saffron gives the light sauce its distinctive aroma and regional character
- Method: Cauliflower is steamed separately, then folded into a gently simmered sauce
- Servings: 4
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Effort Level: Moderate
A Sicilian Classic with a Light Touch of Tomato
This light pasta dinner gets its inspiration from pasta chi vruoccoli arriminata, a Sicilian dish made with cauliflower, saffron, anchovies, raisins, and pine nuts. Rather than cooking the cauliflower down into a sauce, we keep the florets mostly intact, then add just enough chopped tomato to bring moisture and a touch of acidity to the finished dish without creating a pronounced tomato flavor.
The idea for this dish came from two separate recipes in an old cookbook by Giuliano Bugialli: the Sicilian cauliflower pasta and an Apulian version with a more distinctive tomato profile. I borrowed the Apulian dish’s light hand with tomato but kept the Sicilian version’s balance of savory, sweet, and nutty flavors, with toasted pine nuts for a bit of crunch.
Ingredient Notes and Substitutions
A few key ingredients make this recipe work – here’s what to know. A complete list with quantities is in the recipe card below.
- Cauliflower – Use fresh cauliflower for best results. Frozen florets release too much water and soften too quickly, making it difficult to keep a proper texture.
- Saffron: Use saffron threads rather than powder for the best flavor. Crush them lightly before steeping them in hot water so they blend evenly into the sauce. Saffron is one of the ingredients that gives this pasta its distinctive character, but it can be omitted if necessary.
- Pasta – Small shells are our choice because their shape catches the saffron-scented sauce, raisins, pine nuts, and bits of anchovy. Short shapes with ridges or curves like rotini and cavatappi also work well.
- Golden raisins – Golden raisins add mild sweetness and plump especially well after soaking. Regular raisins can be substituted, but their flavor is a little more intense and they might not be quite as tender.
- Red onion – Red onion is traditional and contributes sweetness as it cooks. Yellow or sweet onion can be used instead with no change in flavor.
- Pine nuts – Pine nuts are an important part of the dish’s nutty flavor and should be dry-toasted before adding. Watch them closely and remove them from the pan as soon as they turn lightly golden, since they burn quickly.
- Anchovies – Anchovies provide savory depth (umami) to the sauce and when cooked down as directed, don’t have a fishy flavor. Substitute about 1 teaspoon anchovy paste, or add a small dash of fish sauce if that is what you have on hand.
A Quick Look at Preparation
How to Make Sicilian Pasta with Cauliflower
Here’s how this dish comes together, along with a few tips for the best results. Full instructions are in the recipe card below.
Start by steeping the saffron and soaking the raisins in hot water, then toast the pine nuts and set them aside.
Steam the cauliflower just until tender so the florets hold their shape when they’re added back to the pasta later.
Using the same sauté pan, soften the onion in olive oil, then add the garlic and anchovies. Add the tomatoes, saffron and its steeping liquid, and the drained raisins, then let everything simmer gently while the pasta cooks.
Fold the cauliflower into the sauce, then add the drained pasta, toasted pine nuts, and chopped parsley. Toss gently so the florets stay intact, taste for seasoning, and add a little reserved pasta water if needed to help the light sauce coat the pasta.
Tested Tips
- Coordinate cooking the pasta and sauce: Add the pasta to the boiling water once the tomato mixture begins its gentle simmer. That way, both ingredients should be ready at about the same time.
- Dissolve the anchovies into the sauce: As the anchovies cook, press and stir them into the onion mixture until they dissolve. This forms a savory base for the sauce.
- Keep the sauce light: The tomatoes should soften and release their juices, not cook down into a thick sauce. A splash of reserved pasta water can lighten up the mix if it seems too thick.
- Season in stages: Both the anchovies and grated cheese contribute salt, so season the cauliflower and onion mixture lightly at first. Taste again after the pasta and sauce are combined.
Serving Suggestions
Sicilian cauliflower pasta is hearty enough to serve as a complete meal, so it doesn’t need much alongside it. A simple green salad with vinaigrette dressing makes the best pairing. Warm, crusty, Italian bread with butter is nice too, but keep any other side dishes simple — the flavors of this pasta dish deserve center stage.
More Pasta Dinners with Vegetables
If you like pasta dishes where vegetables play a starring role, try Pasta alla Norma (Sicilian Pasta with Roasted Eggplant), with roasted eggplant, tomato, garlic, basil, and ricotta salata; Weeknight Cheese Tortellini with Veggies, pairing zucchini, tomatoes, and basil in a light garlicky broth; and Roasted Cauliflower Pasta with Parmesan, with caramelized cauliflower, toasted panko, pine nuts, Parmesan, and a splash of cream.
Sicilian Pasta with Cauliflower and Saffron
Ingredients
- 10 ounces pasta, shells, rotini, or penne
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed saffron threads
- 1/4 cup golden raisins
- 1/4 cup pine nuts
- 1 medium head cauliflower, about 1-1/2 lbs before trimming
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 medium red onion, thinly sliced
- 4 anchovy fillets, rinsed and finely chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 cup canned diced tomatoes, with their juices
- 2 tablespoons chopped flat leaf parsley
- Pecorino Romano or Parmigiano-Reggiano, for grating
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil for the pasta.
- Once the water is hot, ladle 1/4 cup into each of two small bowls. Stir the saffron into one bowl and add the raisins to the other. Set both aside while you prepare the remaining ingredients.
- Heat a large, deep sauté pan over medium heat. Add the pine nuts and toast, shaking or stirring the pan constantly, until lightly golden and fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer them to a small bowl and set aside.
- Core the cauliflower and separate it into bite-sized florets. Add the florets to the sauté pan, season lightly with salt and pepper, and pour in enough water to reach a depth of about 1/2 inch.
- Bring the water to a simmer over medium heat. Cover and cook until the cauliflower is tender when pierced with the tip of a knife but still holds its shape, 7 to 10 minutes. Check about midway through cooking to make sure the pan doesn't need more water. Drain if necessary, transfer the cauliflower to a plate, and wipe the pan dry.
- Cook the pasta according to the package directions until al dente. Before draining, reserve about 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking water. Drain the pasta and set it aside.
- While the pasta cooks, return the sauté pan to medium heat and add the olive oil. Add the sliced red onion and cook, stirring frequently, until softened and lightly golden, 4 to 5 minutes.
- Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the anchovies and continue cooking, stirring and pressing them into the onion mixture, until they melt into the oil, 2 to 3 minutes.
- Stir in the tomatoes with their juices. Add the saffron along with its steeping liquid. Drain the raisins and add them to the pan.
- Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer gently, uncovered, until the flavors combine, 5 to 6 minutes. Stir occasionally until tomatoes soften and release some of their juice; don't reduce the mixture to thicken the sauce.
- Return the cauliflower to the pan and gently fold it into the sauce. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes, just until heated through.
- Add the drained pasta, toasted pine nuts, and parsley. Toss gently to combine, adding reserved pasta water a tablespoon at a time if needed to loosen the mixture and help coat the pasta.
- Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Divide among serving bowls and top with grated Pecorino Romano or Parmigiano-Reggiano.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Photos by Tom Pitera • Styling by Erika Pitera
We Barese make pasta with cauliflower in Bianca saute olive oil ,garlic anchovies
.save pasta water. Drain pasta and cauliflower put in a large dish and add hot olive oil with anchovies. NO RED SAUCE. (Broccoli and pasta the same way simple and delicious)!
Hi Jean,
That sounds delicious too. Thanks for sharing.