Have you ever heard about pasta with “broccolo arriminato”? Any clue on the meaning of the word “arriminato”?
In Sicilian language ARRIMINATO actually means “stirred” and this traditional Sicilian dish combines pasta (usually long one like bucatini or spaghetti n. 4) with an amazing condiment made with cauliflower and cooked in a very Sicilian way.
Well… for those who are familiar with food and dishes from Sicily knows that we use simple ingredients but we combine them in the richest and tastier way possible.
In this dish we have the winning twins: raisins and pine nuts.
This pair is very recurrent in our cuisine and together with the salty anchovies and the sweetness of cauliflower make this pasta truly remarkable.
Another thing that is important to highlight here is that there are different version of this same dish, the one I give you is the express pasta one, while there is also a baked version who is prepared in the province of Trapani, in particular in Mazara del Vallo.
It adds saffron in the pasta and goes in the oven to grill the cheese on top. I have added a picture of that version too, below.
Ingredients and Preparation for 4 people
In a large pot boil some water and cook the cauliflower adding some salt like you would do if cooking pasta, AFTER having washed it and cut it into pieces.
WARNING before starting: Do not throw the water away once you have drained the cauliflower out of the pot!
At this point add the tomato extract (or purée) and some white wine (3 spoons) that helps the extract to properly melt.
Keep using the wooden spoon to mash all the ingredients together just like in the picture above.
This dish has a poor origin and that’s why we put breadcrumb on top instead of grated cheese. To prepare it you just need a frying pan on a high heat.
Once pasta is ready, drain it and put it on dishes straight away with abundant condiment and finish with the lovely breadcrumb on top.