Pasta with Roasted Cauliflower and Blue Cheese

Name: Pasta with Roasted Cauliflower and Blue Cheese
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 1 fresh or frozen head of cauliflower, cut into ¾-inch florets; ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil; ¾ teaspoon kosher salt, more as needed; 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper; 1 large or 2 small leeks, halved and thinly sliced; 1 tablespoon thyme leaves, more for serving; 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced; 8 ounces short pasta such as orrechiete, campanelle, conchiglie, farfalle or fusilli; 6 ounces cheese(6 oz Gorgonzola dolce, 4 oz sliced, shredded or grated cheddar and 2 oz sliced, shredded or grated parmesan, other cheeses work as well, it depends on what flavor you want and what veggies if you choose to switch them); Fresh lemon juice, to taste; 2 tablespoons chopped chives, for serving

4 steps

I had this recipe made for me and I loved it, but my family didn't like all of the original ingredients used so this is my take. I never use thyme leaves, lemon juice or chives (sometimes I'll use scallions) because I don't always have those and I don't feel the dish lacks anything without them. As said in the ingredients, you can use many different cheeses for this dish like gorgonzola as in the original recipe or cheddar and parmesan, which I use.

Updated at: Thu, 17 Aug 2023 12:56:07 GMT

Nutrition balance score

Good

Glycemic Index

Low

Glycemic Load

High

Nutrition per serving

Calories541.5 kcal (27%)

Total Fat29.6 g (42%)

Carbs50.8 g (20%)

Sugars3.8 g (4%)

Protein18.9 g (38%)

Sodium654 mg (33%)

Fiber3.6 g (13%)

% Daily Values based on a 2,000 calorie diet

Ingredients

4 servings

1 headcauliflower

fresh, or frozen, cut into 3/4-inch florets

¼ cupextra virgin olive oil

¾ teaspoonkosher salt

more as needed

1 teaspoonfreshly ground black pepper

1leeks

large, halved and thinly sliced

1 tablespoonthyme leaves

more for serving

2cloves garlic

thinly sliced

8 ouncesshort pasta

such as orrechiete, campanelle, conchiglie, farfalle or fusilli

6 ouncescheese

6 oz gorgonzola dolce, 4 oz sliced, shredded or grated cheddar and 2 oz sliced, shredded or grated parmesan, other cheeses work as well, it depends on what flavor you want and what veggies if you choose to switch them

fresh lemon juice

to taste

2 tablespoonschives

chopped, for serving

Instructions

Step 1

Heat oven to 425 degrees. In a large bowl, toss cauliflower with olive oil, salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Spread onto a rimmed baking sheet in an even later, and bake for 20 minutes.

Step 2

Add leeks, garlic and thyme to the cauliflower on the sheet pan, then roast another 20 minutes, tossing the vegetables halfway through, until they are very tender and deeply carmelized.

Step 3

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil. Cook pasta until it is 1 minute shy of being al dente. (It will continue to cook in the residual heat of the pot.) Scoop out about 1 cup pasta water (a coffee mug is good for this), then drain the pasta. Return the pasta to the empty pot, along with butter, Gorgonzola, remaining ¾ teaspoon pepper and ½ cup pasta water, stirring to melt cheese.

Step 4

Toss roasted vegetables into pasta, then stir in lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste. Add more pasta water if mixture looks dry. To serve, spoon into bowls and top with chives and sprinkle of thyme leaves.