Pasta with Roasted Cauliflower & Toasted Breadcrumbs

This recipe has been sitting as a draft for over a year. I just couldn’t get the photos right so I didn’t post. I’ve just entered my first ever photography/food styling challenge and one of the themes is cauliflower! No more excuses 🙂

This is super simple and there isn’t really a sauce per se… it’s dressed in ‘aglio e olio’ or garlic and olive oil. The sweetness of the roasted cauliflower, the garlic and hint of heat from the chilli flakes are a match made in heaven. Only toasted seasoned breadcrumbs could take it over the edge. And they do. Cauliflower tends to significantly shrink when roasted. If you find a large head one will do if they are small get 2. Another tip, you will see in the recipe I suggest using the whole head (yes even the core) if your cauliflower is in beautiful shape and the green parts aren’t mangled use them and if you chop up the core you can use that too if you like. I like to do this recipe with linguini or spaghetti, but you can use any pasta.

1 454 gram (1 lb) pkg linguine or any pasta

1-2 whole heads cauliflower washed and chopped (leave some florets whole for garnish)

3 tablespoons plus 1/3 cup olive oil

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 tsp chilli flake (or less if you don’t want it too spicy)

2 cloves garlic grated

Breadcrumbs

1/2 cup seasoned Italian breadcrumbs

1/2 panko breadcrumbs

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Pinch chilli flakes(optional)

For the Cauliflower:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.On a parchment lined baking sheet toss chopped cauliflower with olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast for 30-40 minutes, turning them over after 20 minutes.

For the Breadcrumbs:

In a nonstick fry pan on medium heat, stir breadcrumbs 1/2tsp salt, chilli flakes and 2 tbsp olive oil for about 5 minutes until they start to brown. Set aside

For the Aglio e Olio:

Add 1/3 olive oil, chilli flakes and garlic to a small pan. Heat on med low until you can start to smell the garlic. About 6 minutes. Keep your eye on it and don’t let it burn. Set aside.

Boil pasta according to package directions. Strain reserving about 1 cup of the pasta water.

Transfer cooked pasta back to the pot and pour heated olive oil to it and toss well. At this point if you feel the pasta is sticky or not ‘loose’ enough, add some of the reserved cooking liquid and toss, keeping in mind you don’t want it too watery. Next add the roasted cauliflower (reserving some for garnish if desired) and 1/3 of the toasted bread crumbs. Toss well. Once plated, spoon more of the breadcrumbs on top and finish with grated Parmesan.