Roasted Cauliflower & Pesto Pasta
Cauliflower is such a staple in our house that sometimes, I accidentally will buy a second cauliflower before we’ve finished the first. Cauliflower curries and stir fries are super popular all over India and certainly were part of the weekly rotation in my mom’s kitchen; it just feels wrong to make my weekly grocery run and not pick up a head of cauliflower.
As much as I love my sheet pan aloo gobi over my moong dal khichdi, it is easy to get stuck in a rut with cauliflower. I happened to have a lot of arugula and basil that was on the verge of going bad…I figured I would try roasting the cauliflower and tossing it with a pesto and some cavatelli pasta. Guys, it was so good! The arugula added a nice bite to my pesto and brought so much life to my cauliflower. I saved a little bit of pasta water to thin out the pesto a bit, instead of using more olive oil in the pesto, and create a sauce of sorts.
This recipe is a great canvas and swap-friendly. Try swapping other greens or nuts in this pesto - I’ve made pesto with spinach and kale. I do always like having basil in there but if you’re not married to that flavor, you can skip it altogether. My go-to nuts for pesto are pine (of course, the most traditional), walnut, or almonds (just soak them in warm water for 15-20 mins first). As for the cauliflower, all I’ve done is crispy-roasted it with olive oil, salt, and pepper. This works for any vegetable, so you can make this pasta with broccoli, root veggies, or tubers. I had a bag of cavatelli but anything sort of short and with ridges works - penne, rigatoni, fusilli, farfalle…the list goes on and on.
Serves 2
Ingredients
For the cauliflower & pasta
1 medium head of cauliflower, cut into florets
1-2 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
4 oz dry pasta
For the pesto (makes a double batch - save half!)
3 cups arugula
1 cup basil
1/4 cup grated pecorino romano or parmesan cheese
2 tbsp pine nuts
2 tbsp lemon juice, plus zest
salt and pepper to taste
2 tbsp olive oil
Method
Heat the oven to 400 F. On a sheet pan, lay out the cauliflower florets, drizzle with olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Toss to coat each floret well. Roast in the oven for 30-35 mins, rotating halfway through. You’re looking for deep browning.
While the cauliflower roasts, make the pesto. In a food processor, combine the arugula, basil, cheese, pine nuts, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Turn the food processor on and stream the olive oil in slowly from the top. This will help create an emulsified pesto, versus one where the oil and solids are separated.
Next, cook the pasta according to the package directions. Reserve 1/2 cup of the pasta water and then drain the rest away.
Once the cauliflower is done, in a large mixing bowl, combine the pasta, half the pesto, and 2-3 tbsp pasta water. Now add in the cauliflower and toss gently. Add a little more pasta water if the pesto is too clumpy.
Serve into bowls and finish with a little more cheese!
