My Pasta alla siciliana

Knowing I only have exactly one week left today, I have recently discovered a new determination to explore Italy whilst I'm here. I have loved living the life of a 'temporary local' but I thought it would be a bit of a waste to return home having not taken advantage of my location. With that in mind, and a few days off 'work', I got to grips with the train system and pootled off to Rome, Bologna and Assisi (posts coming soon). I had heard a lot of Italians complaining about the state of their trains, so I didn't have very high hopes. I, however, was pleasantly surprised. Admittedly I was travelling on the intercity trains and these are perhaps a little more catered to the high flying business men and women with equally high expectations Nonetheless, I was quite charmed by my second class seat (I actually had to double check I really was in second class - partly due to a previous embarrassing first class error - we won't go there). The carriages had a certain Hogwarts charm with compartments of six seats each, rather than row after rows of twos. If unfortunately gifted with unpleasantly scented compartment buddies, or irritatingly noisy neighbours, this 'quaint' experience could feel more like a prison. Fortunately I was lucky and ended up with four university students who were quite up for chatting to me and being patient with my Italian (it's always good to slip into conversation the fact that you only arrived fairly recently). Having previously been a religious 'quiet zone' frequenter in England, I think I'll now be quite disappointed the next time I zoom down to London on a silent train full of earphone wielding workers.

 

Sorry, enough about trains, now for some food. Having made Guiseppina's pasta alla siciliana, I decided to try my hand at making my own. Guiseppina's version had a pleasant simplicity about it but, having researched into Sicilian cauliflower pasta recipes, I decided to experiment with the addition of a couple of other traditional ingredients: sultanas and parsley. The traditional recipe calls for salty anchovies to contrast the sweet sultanas but, in a vegetarian household, I had to rely on other ingredients to play this role (parmesan and, a bit predictably, salt). You can of course add anchovies if you're not catering for vegetarians, but I think this is a great veggie alternative and also a good option for little ones who aren't yet accustomed to the strong flavour of anchovies.

1 small white onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 tiny dried red chilli, finely chopped
1 large handful of parsley, finely chopped with a good pinch of salt.
50g sultanas
1 cauliflower, just cooked, then chopped into small florettes (or cut it first so that it cooks faster) - reserve the cooking water as you can cook the pasta in this to give it more flavour.
240g pasta (I used Sicilian maglie pasta, but anything resembling long macaroni would work just as well)
6 - 8 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
Parmesan, extra virgin olive oil and toasted pine nuts (I didn't have these, but they're the traditional addition... and would definitely add a lovely flavour and contrasting texture) to serve.

• Gently fry the onions, garlic, parsley (reserve a quarter of this to add at the end), oil and sultanas for a couple of minutes until softened.
• Add the cauliflower and continue cooking, covered, on a low heat for about 10 - 15 minutes - you can cook the pasta during this time too, just cook to the packet instructions until al dente.
• Add the pasta and a few tbsp. pasta water to the cauliflower pan, then add the drained pasta and remaining parsley.
• Combine and serve with parmesan/extra virgin olive oil/toasted pine nuts - or all three!