Roasted Cauliflower and Pine Nut–Parmesan Pasta Recipe

When pasta alone sounds too indulgent, there’s an easy way to add a little extra nutrition—roasted vegetables. Here we went with oven-roasted cauliflower to complement a big bowl of tagliatelle in a garlicky pine nut–parmesan sauce. After a long day, it’s the perfect comfort food.

Roasted Cauliflower and Pine Nut Pasta

Yield: 4 servings
Active Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes

Ingredients

For the roasted cauliflower: 
1 head cauliflower, broken into small florets
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 to 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

For the pasta: 
1 pound gluten-free tagliatelle

For the parmesan sauce: 
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons ghee or softened unsalted butter
2 tablespoons toasted pine nuts
1/4 cup breadcrumbs
Roughly chopped flat-leaf parsley, to garnish

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Make the cauliflower:
Place cauliflower florets on the prepared baking sheet and toss with olive oil, red pepper, salt, and black pepper. Arrange in a single layer cut-side-down and roast in oven about 30 minutes until golden brown and crisp, tossing about halfway through the cooking time.

Make the pasta:
Meanwhile, bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil over medium-high heat and cook tagliatelle according to package instructions.

Make the parmesan sauce:
In a large serving bowl, combine parmesan, garlic, ghee or butter, pine nuts, and breadcrumbs. Drain the pasta, reserving about 1/4 cup of pasta water from the pot.

Add hot pasta and cauliflower to the bowl with the parmesan sauce and toss. Add pasta water, and stir until each pasta strand is coated in sauce. Garnish with parsley to serve.

Photo credit: Paul Delmont