Pasta with Cauliflower
TASTY TIDBITS TUESDAY
The other night I made a really tasty pasta dish, the perfect Sunday night supper. The recipe which came from Wegman’s and called for using a pasta called Barilotti which is a thick twisted curl of macaroni. It’s also a little pricey so I opted to use Gemelli or Cavatelli. This is a great vegetarian meal.
1 lb pasta such as Cavatelli or Gemelli
1/2 cup Panko bread crumbs
2 TBS basting oil
1/2 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese
1/4 cup olive oil
1 TBS chopped garlic
3 anchovy fillets
1/2 TBS crushed red pepper
1 1/2-2 lbs cauliflower, cut into 1 ” pieces (about 6 cups)
1/2 cup water
1 tsp salt
2 TBS fresh Italian parsley
Ground black pepper to taste
Use a braising pan – a heavy Dutch oven would be a good second choice
Combine panko and basting oil in small bowl. Toast in braising pan on MEDIUM, stirring constantly, 3-4 minutes until golden brown. Transfer to small plate to cool. Then toss with grated cheese in a small bowl.
Heat olive oil, garlic, anchovies and hot pepper on MEDIUM-LOW. Cook, stirring 2-3 minutes, until anchovy fillets dissolve.
Raise heat to HIGH. Add cauliflower, water and salt; stir. Bring to simmer; Cook, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes or until water is evaporated, cauliflower is tender. Turn off heat.
Add cooked pasta to cauliflower; stir to combine. Add half the panko/cheese mixture and parsley to pan. Stir. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Garnish with remaining panko/cheese mixture.
Recipe courtesy of Wegman’s – Bring Home A Taste of Italy
Related articles
- Learn to Love: Cauliflower (fitsugar.com)
- The Minimalist: Pasta With Cauliflower (dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com)
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Pbenjay's Blog 
That sounds delicious!! I’m going to making this tasty dish!
I really think you will like it. We ate leftovers tonight and I just added a little bit of basting oil and put it in the microwave. Basting oil is something I buy at Wegman’s but essentially it is an olive oil that has herbs in it and some garlic. Enjoy!