I am a meat sauce guy. I really enjoy the process and the resulting aroma, which fills the kitchen, when I'm making either a classic or a not so traditional Bolognese sauce. However, when time is fleeting and there is no meat on hand, cauliflower has proven to be a worthy stand-in for creating a sauce in the style of Bolognese. We still made a quick soffrito of chopped onions and garlic, with the addition of red chile flakes and minced hot pickled peppers. And instead of browning meat, we browned cauliflower, which had been coarsely ground in the food processor. We added wine, both white and red, because that is what we had on hand. A splash of soy sauce and some bottled red sauce from the pantry rounded things out nicely. A last minute addition of rosemary and basil from our weed patch added a bright aromatic touch to the sauce. The most surprising thing was that it actually tasted meaty and was very satisfying. We have used celery root, shrimp, and calamari in variations of sauce Bolognese before, but had not thought to try cauliflower until hunger and a meager pantry inspired this extrapolation for dinner last night.
