Buy snow-white cauliflower with no brown spots; use broccoli or one of the hybrids (broccoflower, romanesco broccoli, and so on) if the cauliflower does not look good. And though it is a full-flavored dish, remember that cooking will mellow the assertive flavors of the anchovies and garlic, so don’t skimp on either. This dish is just as good warm as it is hot.

　　

Ingredients

makes 4 servings

　　1 large head of cauliflower (at least 2 pounds), trimmed and cut or broken into florets

　　Salt

　　1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

　　5 to 10 anchovy fillets, to taste, chopped

　　1 tablespoon minced garlic

　　1 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes, or to taste (optional)

　　Minced fresh parsley for garnish

　　

Step 1

Put the cauliflower in a steamer above an inch or two of salted water. Cover and cook until it is just tender, about 10 minutes, then plunge into a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking.

　　

Step 2

Combine the oil, anchovies, garlic, and hot pepper if you’re using it in a large, deep skillet and turn the heat to medium-low. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the anchovies begin to break up and the garlic begins to color, about 5 minutes.

　　

Step 3

Add the cauliflower and raise the heat to medium-high. Continue to cook, stirring, for about 5 minutes more, until the cauliflower is coated with oil and heated through. Garnish and serve hot or at room temperature.

　　

Anchovies

Step 4

Anchovies come in three forms: canned, paste, and salted. Canned are most familiar and a nearly ideal convenience food. It’s worth pointing out that you want to buy those packed in olive oil, never soy or cottonseed; the ingredients should read “anchovies, olive oil, salt”—no more.

　　

Step 5

Anchovy paste is marginally more convenient. But it’s more than twice as expensive by weight as canned anchovies, and it often contains cream, butter, preservatives, and other unnecessary ingredients. Salted anchovies, which are sold in bulk in Italian markets from a large can or bucket, are delicious, but a hassle: before using them, you must rinse them and peel each fillet off the skeleton.

　　From Mark Bittman's Quick and Easy Recipes From the New York Times by Mark Bittman Copyright (c) 2007 by Mark Bittman Published by Broadway Books.Mark Bittman is the author of the blockbuster Best Recipes in the World (Broadway, 2005) and the classic bestseller How to Cook Everything, which has sold more than one million copies. He is also the coauthor, with Jean-Georges Vongerichten, of Simple to Spectacular and Jean-Georges: Cooking at Home with a Four-Star Chef. Mr. Bittman is a prolific writer, makes frequent appearances on radio and television, and is the host of The Best Recipes in the World, a 13-part series on public television. He lives in New York and Connecticut.