Hot sausage, cauliflower and broccoli half-ziti

August 10, 2019

Last year I was introduced to an amazing cauliflower ziti by our American friends. It featured Italian sausage, chorizo, cauliflower, a herby tomato sauce and three kinds of cheese. It was a dish to die for and I almost did... from bursting after two big portions. If I had popped my clogs at that time, it would have been with a wide smile on my face. Awesome dinner!

Since our trip across the pond, I have cooked ziti many times and found the ingredients I prefer, as I can't get hold of the same stuff our friends had in theirs. For a full blown cauliflower ziti, I use a large head of cauliflower, one pack of full flavoured sausages, one pack of sliced sandwich chorizo, parmesan, ricotta and grated mozzarella, as well as chopped tomatoes, onion, garlic and seasoning. Should you want to make it, I have written a blog about it and it should be easy enough to find if you search for 'cauliflower ziti'.

Today I really fancied this dish, but I only had some of the ingredients at home. Instead of going shopping, I decided to make it anyway and hope for the best. It worked! Because was isn't a full blown eat-until-you-burst-three-cheese-lush-feast, I decided to call it a half-ziti. Half only means that I used half if the main ingredients, not that it was only half as good. It was actually beautiful and probably more appropriate as a regular meal. Served with a side salad, it wouldn't break the waistband either, providing you reduce the portion to fit the salad on the plate.

So what did I do differently? This time I only used sausages, no chorizo and only grated mozzarella rather than three kinds of cheese. That meant I didn't layer the cheese with the sausage mixture, but simply added cheese to the top. I also used both cauliflower and broccoli, as Asda was out of cauliflower heads when picking my order for delivery and they gave me a pre-cut mixed pack instead. As luck would have it, my broccoli-hating other half wasn't at home, so it worked out perfectly.

Because this worked so well, I may start experimenting and adding more vegetables, as well as the basic brassica. Peppers would work really well and I reckon I could sneak in courgette as well... and mushrooms. In my other blog I mentioned that you can change and swap the meat as you please. If you aren't a fan of sausages, use mince or chicken. I suppose you could make it completely vegetarian, should it float your boat. The tomato sauce is the key and you need cheese, at least one kind of cheese. The more you change it though, the less it will resemble a ziti and turn into a regular bake. Not that it matters, as long as it tastes good.

To make this version of half-ziti, you need:

1 pack of sausages (I used Three chilli sausages, so hot no extra chilli was needed)

1 cauliflower head or mixed cauli and broccoli

1/2 bag grated light mozzarella (more if you are a cheese based creature)

1 tin chopped tomatoes

1-2 tbsp tomato puree

1 onion, chopped

2 large garlic cloves, finely chopped

paprika

oregano

basil

salt & pepper

1. Get all ingredients out.

2. Cut the cauliflower and broccoli into bite-sized florets and cook until just done. Don't over cook, as it needs to hold together when mixing with the chunky sauce later.

A better option is to roast the brassica. It will be firmer and won't break when mixing it later.

3. Chop the onion, garlic and sausage.

4. Soften the onion in a little oil.

5. Add the sausage and garlic and fry until the sausage is half cooked.

6. Add the tomato puree and seasoning and mix well.

7. Add the chopped tomatoes, mix well and leave to cook until the sausage is done.

8. The sauce needs to reduce until it reaches the dry-isle stage, where you can make a dry patch in the pan and it remains dry. You don't want the bake swimming in liquid. At least I don't.