The other night for dinner I was thinking of making cauliflower cheese, the British favorite of cauliflower cooked in white sauce with cheese. But I wanted something that was lighter — so I made up a dish out of what I had on hand. Above, you can see that I cooked cauliflower in a tomato sauce with bell peppers and other vegetables. I wrote down what I did, because Len said he REALLY didn’t want me to forget this one the way I always do, making up something and never doing it again. So here it is.
Cauliflower in Red Sauce
1 head cauliflower divided into bite-size florets
1 bell pepper, sliced into 1" pieces
1 onion, cut in small wedges
1 can tomato sauce (15 oz)
1 can classic Ro-Tel
1 tablespoon fennel seeds
1 tablespoon Italian herbs
8 oz. fresh mozzarella (other meltable cheeses would probably be ok)
2 Tb. olive oil for sautéing
Salt to taste.
Heat olive oil in a large sauté pan. Cook onion and 1/2 the bell peppers until just brown. Add spices and aromatize in the oil for short time while paying attention so they don't burn. Add tomato sauce and Ro-Tel and heat to simmer. Add cauliflower, and simmer for 20 minutes.
Add second half of peppers and simmer for 10 more minutes. Stir in order to mix the vegetables together.
Slice the mozzarella and place on top of the vegetables. Keep simmering a few minutes until the cheese is melty.
Serve this dish in a bowl as there is a lot of liquid which is quite nice
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| Question: What is Ro-Tel? Answer: Canned tomatoes and chiles. Updated to answer the question! |
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| The finished dish, ready to serve right from the pan. This blog post and photos © 2022 mae sander. |
I make up things too and don't write them down or if I did the instructions would say to make this recipe and fail it, make this other recipe and fail it, put them together with these leftovers from other dishes and cook together. I call them Once In a Lifetime (whatever ingredient is dominant). I also remark that no one else in the world will ever have this dish!
ReplyDeleteSounds like a great dish. I've made lots o things with what I call Red Sauce but never tried it with caulflour. Thanks for the idea.
ReplyDeleteThat makes perfect sense to write it down! I've done that as well.
ReplyDeleteLooks yummy. How creative!
(ツ) from Cottage Country Ontario , ON, Canada!
P.S. I had to look up Ro-tel! Now I know what it is!
ReplyDeleteHello,
ReplyDeleteThe red sauce with cauliflower sounds delicious, I'll have to try this recipe.
Take care, enjoy your day and the week ahead.
That looks delicious!
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of the cauliflower in a red sauce. I would not have thought of it - but sounds delicious.
ReplyDeleteHmmm, that sounds nice and yes, I know what you mean. I tend to forget how I cooked something, too! Better write it down :-)
ReplyDeleteYou answered the question before I could ask it. I don't think we get a version of classic Ro-Tel here.
ReplyDeleteWhen a person who cooks gets to the point where he/she can modify a recipe, that's when I feel like a person is genuinely cooking. When a person who cooks gets to the point where he/she can create a recipe...well, now that's a master.
ReplyDeleteOhhhh this is my kind of meal. Thanks for the recipe.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds absolutely wonderful. I never buy Rotel, but I might just have to in order to try this.
ReplyDeleteI went to the site you mentioned for public media giving and here is what I found:
The Kansas Public Broadcasting Council, which divides the amount among four public TV stations and five public radio stations following a formula similar to CPB’s. “It is also weighted to ensure that most goes to stations serving rural communities in Kansas,” said Debra Fraser, GM at KMUW in Wichita and chair of the Council.
The $250 K is spread over 4 TV and 5 radio stations. The money must be divided among 9 entities. I know my PBS station gets 50 K a year after everything has been divided because they tell us that every time they have a pledge drive which is four times a year. They couldn't say it if it wasn't correct!