Cauliflower Pasta With Anchovies and Bread Crumbs Recipe (2024)

Never tasted anything like it! Cloves added a nice woody flavor that wasn’t overpowering. Would recommend using homemade breadcrumbs for the topping and maybe a tad more salt. Also make sure you grab the cloves out before serving. Overall delicious dish!

Haven't made this yet, but anchovies get the raw deal when listed as "optional"Anchovies are gold - but Americans are so afraid of the "fishy" flavor - which is better known as UMAMI. Yeah, it's amazing when you go get Worcestershire or Red Boat fish sauce and you realize a little goes a long way and gives you that tang, that complex saltiness from the sea, which salt alone will never provide.

If substituting capers (sounds interesting), would you handle them the same way as the anchovies in this recipe? I.e., press them into the pan? And how many capers would you substitute for the 4 anchovies?

1. Forget doing the bread with the almonds. I would use Panko next time OR, toast the bread in the oven so it gets crispy. Never happened in the skillet.2. Forget the parsley STEMS! What a waste.3. I added 8 anchovies. Why an extra teaspoon of salt? 4. Cut back cinnamon to 1/2 tsp. UGH! Couldn't find all the whole cloves in finished product! Maybe use 1/8 to 1/4 tsp ground cloves. 6. Overall, sauce too thick making pasta/cauliflower mixture dry. Add more sauce to leftovers.

Cauliflower rice, also known as riced cauliflower, is when you take a head of cauliflower, chop it up into bite-sized florets, and then either pulse it in a food processor, or grate it on a cheese grater until it breaks down and looks like the texture of rice.

Delicious and authentic! We will make again (soon, and again)!!

Wasn’t sure I’d made the right choice after all the time with fine chopping, but now I am eating this over the bowl by myself because it is too delicious to take the time to call the family to dinner. This is a keeper!

I made this exactly to directions and it was strangely lacking in oomph. Next time I will add more anchovies (I was an anchovy virgin) and an extra tablespoon of tomato paste AND some red pepper. Loved the texture of the riced cauliflower.

Crazy dish, so many flavors, aromas and textures, loved it. I suspect though, that any Sicilian making this probably couldn't resist throwing a dash or two of red pepper. I also wonder where Sicilian friars, centuries ago, sourced their white sandwich bread.

@ Bin, it's cooked cauliflower that you press through a tool called a ricer, usually used for making mashed potatoes. I believe you can buy frozen riced cauliflower too. So essentially it's cooked cauliflower in tiny little pieces.

Fabulous recipe! My mom made this for decades. She would just chop up a cauliflower and if we didn’t have a cauliflower sitting around she would just skip it. Sometimes she would make it without the tomatoes when she did that she would squeeze lemon on top to brighten the dish.

this was terrific! I used tinned ham instead of the anchovies and quinoa instead of the bucatini and my kids loved it — even Beverleigh!!

Buy a single roll.

I used the raw, sliced almonds I had on hand which made chopping them easier than starting with whole almonds. Delicious dish!

I know you meant addition, not addiction, but it's one of those great resonant typos because the descriptions make this dish sound addictive as all get-out.

Delicious, but only after adding plenty of pepper (black and a pinch of cayenne). That felt like an odd omission.

1tsp each lemon and orange zest grated.

With all the negative comments, I don’t know how this recipe received four stars. I agree with those who found it oddly bland despite the large number of ingredients. I omitted the cinnamon and cloves but don’t think this was the problem. Next time I will double the anchovies and garlic and cut back on the tomato which masked the other flavors. Maybe add a few red pepper flakes.

This was somehow both boring and gross. Would not make again.

This was absolutely delicious with some crucial changes: double the anchovies (never omit them!), half the cinnamon, double the passata. I also used whole wheat bread and toasted it first and whirled it in the food processor before putting in the pan. Forget the whole parsley branches thing. I will used ground clove next time as I couldn't find it after cooking and then one of my bites found it and it was off-putting. Will make again!

Cooked as written except used more anchovies and omitted the 1 t of salt in Step 4. I also ended up using almost two cups of the reserved pasta water to hit the right level of moistness in the final product. It took a bit to get the bread with the almonds toasted just right, but it turned out really well! It did take some extra time starting with a whole head of cauliflower that I riced and then roasted in the oven, but that was well worth it. Excellent dish!

Made this last night and thought it was quite tasty. I used fresh cauliflower cut into small florets rather than rice. I think that gives the dish a nice toothiness. I used anchovy paste and would add a bit more. A touch of acid would also brighten things up nicely. Will be fantastic with good fresh tomatoes when they're available. The breadcrumb topping is a lovely crunchy accent.

A guest of my daughter's came into the kitchen while I was prepping, told me he was a fabulous cook and insisted he make Pasta Puttanesca. (Turns out he was totally inebriated.) Out of pure curiosity I brought him black olives and capers, which were the only additional ingredients he needed. Anyhoo, after he chopped them, his wife came and retrieved him. I continued on with this recipe, tossing in the olives and capers with the onions. Delicious! Bread crumbs take this over the top.

Made it fit dinner tonight. Bread crumb portion of recipe is great, but the cinnamon and cloves were strange, and it didn’t taste of tomatoes. Next time I’d omit the spices, and would leave the cauliflower in larger pieces. I like another persons suggestion of adding capers sounds like a nice complement to the anchovy.

Big effort imo. It definitely needs more anchovies and less cinnamon. Used panko instead of white bread slices and fresh cauliflower, riced in the food processor. Adding the topping totally absorbs any moisture from the sauce so watch out. Give it a B- 🤷🏻‍♂️

Made this for the first time last night, and will make again. I used whole grain bread instead of white, a whole tin of anchovies (with capers), and was generous with the salt. I followed the recipe pretty closely otherwise using good quality ingredients. I also added some hot pepper flakes at the end (highly recommend). I loved the unexpected but delightful addition of cinnamon and clove. A nice blend of flavors and good texture. Yielded six generous servings and rave reviews from everyone.

Toast the bread and keep them crispy

Pretty good! Definitely needs a swirl of good quality EVOO to serve, plus a splash of something acidic. Capers would work, I used lemon juice. I riced my fresh cauliflower using a grater which was a bit of work. I think frozen riced cauliflower would work better here. I also used a cup of panko instead of the bread because it browns well and is super crispy.

Really unique flavors; I’m in the “loved it” camp. Suggestions for success: use more salt and a higher heat for toasting. Pulse fresh cauliflower and bread in the food processor (who dices bread?). Use a dash of ground cloves instead of whole. Read the recipe thoroughly, then read it again before starting as the timing is weird and it’s not super well written. Finally, trust the process! I had parm on deck in case it was bland, but it absolutely was not needed in the end.

Really disappointing! A lot of work and not that great results. Could figure out how to improve it, but think I'll just move on to another recipe. Think I'll save the left over almonds and bread crumbs for salad topping.