Capers and Cauliflower

When I was in Italy earlier this year, I experienced capers in a new way.  Most of the capers that you can buy in the United States are preserved in vinegar, so in essence, are pickled. In Italy, it's very common to see capers preserved in sea salt.

I made a really yummy recipe earlier this week using some of the capers that I brought back.  The recipe is based on one that was in a cookbook that I bought when I was taking cooking classes while there (thanks Chicca!!), but since I didn't have all of the ingredients (as usual) I made it my own!  I noticed the recipe because I was making lefse and krumkake earlier in the week, and I bought too large a container of cream, and so had a couple of cups left.  (I only needed a pint and I bought a quart)  Since I had also baked biscotti earlier that weekend, that cookbook was sitting out, and I noticed a recipe for cauliflower with a green cream sauce. Later, when I was grocery shopping, the only thing that stuck in my head about the recipe that I found, other than the cream, was the cauliflower, so I bought a head.  When I got home and actually read the entire recipe I found I was missing a few other things

I took a head of cauliflower, separated it into florets, and boiled them for about 10 minutes.  While they were cooking, I rinsed off about 1/3 cup of my capers, (very important that you rinse them well or your dish will be WAY too salty) and mixed them in a food processor with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil, a smashed clove of garlic, and a whole bunch of dried chives and dried cilantro.  (Cuz those were the green things that I had) - I was  making a 'green sauce'.  It called for a bunch of chopped fresh parsley, of which I had none.  In fact, since it's December in Minnesota, I basically have NO fresh herbs of any kind.

Once the green sauce was mixed up, I put it in a bowl with an egg, a cup of shredded Swiss cheese, and a cup of shredded Romano cheese - again - because that's what I had.  I had cheddar too, but I was less excited about that in this sauce.  Mixed in 2 cups of cream.  Sprayed a pan with PAM, dumped the cauliflower in it, and poured the sauce over it.  Baked for about 40 minutes and took it out of the oven and let it sit for about 10 minutes so that the cheese would stiffen up a bit.

Notice that I didn't add any salt to the dish.  The capers give it enough salt on their own so you don't need to add any more seasoning.

Oh my goodness.  I know,  you're thinking "How could it not be good, right?  Cream.....   cheese.....
It was fabulous.  The garlic filled the house with a fabulous scent when it was baking, and it was so creamy and filling and fabulous!!

 I started thinking that I shouldn't have given any of my capers away!!  Good I kept some for myself.