Guiseppina's Pasta alla siciliana

I don't like one way streets. I plucked up the courage to cycle to meet a friend at the station today as the route looked simple enough. What I didn't notice was that my route home would be completely different if I followed the one way system. "If" is a key word there... as you may have guessed, I didn't. I cycled home the only way I knew how (the way I came), only noticing something was wrong when many terrifying Italian drivers started coming towards me. I'm sure at this point a brave person would continue, or a clever person would find the correct road. I chose option c: panic, and cycle along the pavement, much to the confusion of the pedestrians.

After a slightly stressful morning, more cooking with Guiseppina was a much needed tonic. Today we're apparently making pasta alla siciliana, but I think that title covers a lot of different recipes. Guiseppina's version, to my English brain, is like an Italian cauliflower cheese, but with pasta instead of a white sauce. Having said that, the combination of cheese and cauliflower is probably the only parallel I can draw, so that was probably a bit of a weak link on my part. It's a very simple recipe and, again, pretty healthy as far as Italian food goes - the only cheese is a shaving of parmesan on the top, so you can be as healthy or unhealthy as you choose.

Serves 4-6

1 cauliflower, outer leaves removed
4 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 very small dried chilli, finely chopped (the equivalent of about 8 flakes of dried chilli - so you could just use flakes instead if you don't have whole dried chilli to hand) - this makes a very mild version, feel free to add more chilli, or drizzle with chilli oil at the end.
Extra virgin olive oil and parmesan to serve
300g pasta

• Cook the cauliflower until just slightly al dente - we cooked it whole for quite a long time, but I'm sure you could cut it into smaller pieces if you want to do it quickly.
• Drain the cauliflower and cut into bite sized florettes - but save the water to use for cooking the pasta (it gives it a little more flavour)
• Put the oil, garlic and chilli into a large frying pan and fry on a medium heat until the garlic is slightly softened. Add the cauliflower and cook for a couple of minutes, stirring regularly.
• Turn the heat to low and cook for a further 5 minutes.
• Cook the pasta according to the packet instructions, but use the cauliflower water instead of ordinary water.
• Drain the pasta, but save about 3 tbsp. of the water. Combine the water, pasta and cauliflower.
• Serve with a shaving of parmesan and a drizzle of oil. You could use chilli oil if you fancy, to give it a little more warmth.