Cauliflower Piccata with Orechiette

**Lightly adapted from Hetty McKinnon at the NYTimes - use vegan butter to make it vegan or stay traditional with unsalted butter!** Piccata sauce — that buttery, briny combination of lemon, butter and capers, silky in texture and tart in flavor — is not just for chicken or swordfish. It’s also a zesty anchor for roasted vegetables. Here, cauliflower is roasted at high heat, which concentrates the flavor, adds nuttiness and encourages caramelization, before being doused with the sauce. Chickpeas make this a fuller vegetarian meal, but leave them out if you’d rather. Piccata dishes are often served with long pasta, which tangle with the tangy sauce, but this one is also great alongside rice or tender-crisp vegetables like blistered green beans. While you are at it, try this sauce with sweet butternut squash, charred broccoli, earthy roasted carrots, golden wedges of cabbage or crispy slices of tofu.

Good

% Daily Values based on a 2,000 calorie diet

Step 1

Heat a pan of boiling water. Once boiling add 2 tablespoons of kosher salt (it helps season the pasta!).

Step 2

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Place the cauliflower and about 2/3 of the chickpeas onto a sheet pan and drizzle with 2 to 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Season with kosher salt and black pepper, then toss all together on the pan. Try and make sure the flat parts of the cauliflower are touching the pan so they will get crispy and carmelized. Roast for 20 min, then add the remaining chickpeas and roast for another 5 min. The cauliflower should be tender and browned. Remove from the oven.

Step 3

When the cauliflower is about halfway done cooking, add the orecchiette to the boiling water and cook until Al dente on the package (9 min for me).

Step 4

Heat a medium skillet to medium-high. Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and the shallot, and sauté until soft and fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute longer, stirring constantly to keep from scorching. Pour the stock into the pan and simmer until reduced by half, about 4 to 5 minutes. Reduce heat to low, then stir in the butter, capers, lemon zest and juice. Season with ½ teaspoon of kosher salt and a few turns of black pepper.

Step 5

To serve, plate a helping of orecchiette and then spoon some of the roasted the cauliflower and chickpeas, on top. Top with the lemon caper sauce. Top with parsley and serve with lemon slices.

↑Support creators by visiting their site 😊