For the purées, simply boil the white cabbage and the cauliflower until soft and then blend with a little of the cooking liquid and some salt until it forms a smooth purée. This can be frozen (in an ice cube tray) and added to the garlic sauce from frozen.
Put a saucepan of water on to boil and season well with salt.
Fry the streaky bacon in the oil until crispy. Then remove the bacon but keep the flavoured oil to fry your vegetables. Add a knob of butter and the finely chopped or grated onion with a little salt then fry on a low heat until soft (5 minutes), then add three quarters of the minced garlic, keeping a quarter back.
After 1–2 minutes add the mascarpone – this stuff was made by angels – melt it down and then add the jelly stock cube.
Now throw in the puréed cauliflower and cabbage along with the remaining garlic and 1 teaspoon of garlic granules (this is at its heart a garlic sauce after all!).
Allow to come to the boil then add the cold double cream. Season with salt and pepper to taste, add the grated Parmesan and turn off the heat.
The sauce is now done and will thicken while it stands.
Cook your pasta of choice until al dente and keep a mug of the salty, starchy pasta water. In a separate frying pan, add 1 tablespoon of oil and when it's heated slightly add the panko breadcrumbs (any breadcrumbs are fine but I chose these for extra crunch). Keep turning and when they are golden turn off the heat, chop your crispy bacon into very small pieces and add into the breadcrumbs with the parsley.
Add the cooked pasta to the sauce and loosen up with the pasta water. Serve topped with the bacony breadcrumbs and enjoy!
Recipe by Colleen Ramsey (Colleen Ramsey: Bywyd a Bwyd).
