We woke up to an inch of snow and freezing rain. Even though it is a Sunday and I don’t have anywhere to go, I’m going to say it anyway…
SCHNEE TAG!!
What, what!!
I finally finished the giant heap of paperwork (such. a. relief.) and now I’m onto another little project that I’ll probably tell you about later. 😉
After finishing my CSD, I had an overabundance of random vegetables hanging out in the fridge. I like steamed veggies, raw veggies, etc. but I wanted to use them in a dish now that I could. I hadn’t had a real meal in, well, 7 days and it was becoming hard not to go the lazy route and cook up the container of Kraft Spongebob mac & cheese that is in the cabinet…not that there is anything wrong with that…
I had a hankering for pasta, and I stared at a cranium of cauliflower for several minutes before the epiphany hit. I hauled out the food processor and made cauliflower pesto pasta.
This recipe is a quick pasta fix complete with vegetable-in-the-raw. It wasn’t one that I figured I would blog about and I definitely wasn’t expecting it to be that great. I mean, come on, it’s still just cauliflower and noodles… Part of me fully anticipated throwing it into the waste can and reverting back to the mac & cheese plan. Be that as it may, the results were so good that I stood and ate over half of the pasta right out of the bowl before I served it onto my plate for dinner.
Cauliflower Pesto Pasta
- 1/2 cranium cauliflower (about 1 lb), trimmed of leaves, cored and cut into large chunks
- 1 garlic clove
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1/2 cup toasted almonds (or pine nuts)
- 2 oz chunk Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
- 3 Tbsp fresh basil leaves (or parsley)
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 1 Tbsp pitted Kalamata olives
- 1-2 Tbsp dry white wine (to taste)
- sea salt
- 1 lb pasta of your choice
Set a large pot of salted water to boil. I added a splash of olive oil to keep the pasta from sticking.
Meanwhile, prepare the pesto. Pulse half of the cauliflower in a food processor until it looks like couscous granules. Transfer cauliflower to a large bowl.
Pulse the garlic, pepper flakes, almonds, cheese, olives, and basil in food processor. Transfer to the bowl with cauliflower, add the olive oil, white wine, a pinch of sea salt, and stir to combine. Taste and adjust as needed to your liking.
Once your water is boiling, add the pasta and cook until al dente, about 6-7 minutes. Drain the pasta, but reserve a cup of the pasta water. Immediately add the hot pasta to the cauliflower pesto and gradually add the pasta water a little at a time until everything is nicely distributed. (If it is too thick, add more pasta water). Serve hot with additional Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.
This recipe is a quick pasta fix complete with vegetable-in-the-raw and is the perfect late night weekend dinner or weeknight dinner when you don’t have a lot of time on your hands. The food processor does all the work for you, you only have to stir it up and eat. If you have a Viper Pilot and/or children in your house that doesn’t like to eat vegetables, trust me, they will fall for this one hook, line, and sinker.
{I’m really really bad with idioms but I think I knocked that one out of the water.}
It’s a wonderful vegetarian dish, but like with most pasta dishes, you could easily add chicken. I suspect it would also be fantastic with sun-dried tomatoes, so long as they don’t make the pesto too gummy. Try it and let me know what you think.
ENJOY!