{"id":13888,"date":"2013-08-09T01:00:29","date_gmt":"2013-08-09T06:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/?p=13888"},"modified":"2013-08-08T22:00:48","modified_gmt":"2013-08-09T03:00:48","slug":"baked-italian-cauliflower","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/2013\/08\/09\/baked-italian-cauliflower\/","title":{"rendered":"Baked Italian Cauliflower"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Baked<\/a><\/p>\n

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After I had my second daughter, my friend Sunita brought over dinner for my family. \u00a0Not only was that a lovely, thoughtful gesture, but it was a tasty one too! \u00a0Sunita made a huge casserole of baked rigatoni \u00a0and cauliflower in a spicy tomato sauce, spiked with gobs of melty<\/span> cheese. \u00a0I won’t tell you how quickly I ate up dinner (and all the leftovers) – but it was fast! \u00a0Here<\/a> is a link to the original recipe. \u00a0However, my husband and I don’t eat pasta anymore, and my girls aren’t really that into it either. \u00a0I wanted to see if I could make the same tasty dish, simplified a little, without the noodles. \u00a0I think I did!<\/p>\n

Baked Italian Cauliflower<\/strong>\u00a0is a tasty side dish and will go well with baked meatballs, chicken breasts, whatever you have going! \u00a0The only ingredient that may be a little difficult to locate is the cheese. \u00a0The recipe calls for 8 oz. of<\/span> fontina<\/span>, which is a semi-soft, creamy cheese. \u00a0It melts like a dream! \u00a0If you can’t find it, you could substitute 2\/3 cup shredded mozzarella and 1\/3 cup shredded swiss cheese. \u00a0It won’t be exactly the same, but you’ll still get the gooey, smooth texture from the mozzarella and a little bite from the swiss. \u00a0As for the pepper, I used one of those red pepper flake packets that always comes to your house when you order pizza. \u00a0Do you have as many of those packets in a kitchen drawer as I do? \u00a0If not, use other red pepper flakes, or even a\u00a01\/2 teaspoon of Sriracha or other hot pepper sauce. \u00a0I’ll let you decide how spicy you want your dish to be. \u00a0For me, the pizza pepper packet was enough!<\/p>\n

Once you make this (and love it!) you can add in other things to your cauliflower casserole: \u00a0cooked Italian sausage or ground beef, slices of summer squash, or some very finely chopped herbs – basil and parsley would be yummy. \u00a0Bake this tonight and tell me how you like it!<\/p>\n

Baked Italian Cauliflower<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Ingredients:<\/p>\n