Step 1: Mise en place. Chop the cauliflower. The finer the chop the less time it takes to cook and get to the consistency you want.

Step 2: Use a Dutch oven or a sauté pan with a lid that is large enough to contain all the ingdredients. Warm the pan over a medium to medium-low heat. Add the olive oil, shallots and garlic with a few grindings of pepper.

Step 3: When the shallots are translucent, add the cauliflower and stir it in. Add the red chili flakes and salt. Give it a good stir, making sure that everything is coated with the oil. Cover and cook for about 25 minutes, giving it a stir every five minutes or so.

Step 4: Set a pot of salted water to boil. Keep checking the sauce. When the moisture has cooked out and the oil is beginning to pool on the bottom, use the back of a wooden spoon to see if you can mash the large chunks of cauliflower. When the sauce has an even consistency add the pasta to the salted water. Keep stiring the sauce, if it begins to brown, turn off the heat.

Ingredients:

• 1 cauliflower, 450g (1 lb.) or a little over, chopped
• 340g (12 ounces) of dry penne
• ½ cup of extra virgin olive oil
• 2 large shallots, sliced thin
• 6 cloves of garlic, sliced thin
• ¼ teaspoon of red chili flakes
• salt and fresh ground pepper
• 1 tablespoon capers, drained
• 1 cup of pasta water
• ½ cup of freshly grated prmigiano-reggiano cheese.
• squeeze of fresh lemon juice

Step 5: When the pasta is a couple ninutes short of al dente, add it to the sauce with a cup of pasta water and the capers. Stir and toss until the pasta is coated with the sauce. Add the parmesan. Stir and toss. Give it a squeeze of lemon juice and serve with more parmesan at the table