Pasta with Roasted Cauliflower, Olives & Capers
February 27th, 2006 Caroline
After my recent roasted broccoli triumph, I thought I’d try roasting cauliflower, a vegetable none of us much likes. Delicious! Ben acted like his cousin with tuna casserole; he ate three big helpings before we cut him off. We’ll be making this again.
1 head of cauliflower
1/3 c pitted olives, very coarsely chopped
2-3 tbsp capers
olive oil
freshly ground black pepper, grated parmesan cheese, and chopped parsley to taste
1 pound of pasta (I actually made ours with half a pound of pasta — there are only three of us eating — but if you like a higher pasta-to-vegetable ratio, or are feeding more people, then of course you’ll want to cook a full pound)
Preheat the oven to 400 and put up a big pot of water to boil.
Break the cauliflower up into bite-sized florets (this is the most time-consuming part of the recipe). Toss the cauliflower in a large bowl with the olives and capers, and drizzle a couple tablespoons of olive oil over the lot. Spread out in a large baking pan and roast, stirring once or twice, for about 20 minutes, until the cauliflower is tender and starting to brown a bit around the edges.
Toward the end of the cauliflower-cooking time, boil the pasta. When it’s done, drain, reserving a half cup or so of the pasta water. Toss the pasta back into the cooking pot with the roasted cauliflower, olives and capers. Add some of the pasta water if it seems too dry. Serve with lots of freshly ground black pepper, grated cheese, and a sprinkling of parsley.
Entry Filed under: Recipes
4 Comments
1. Libby | February 28th, 2006 at 8:26 am
I’m with you on the cauliflower–to the point that I was reading the recipe thinking, yeah, this would be great if you just left out the cauliflower. Hmm.
Which reminds me that my tuna casserole recipe began life as a Moosewood baked pasta w/cauliflower & tomatoes. I did make it that way a couple of times, then started subbing tuna for the veggies…and the rest is, as they say, history.
2. Libby | February 28th, 2006 at 8:30 am
by the way, that’s not meant to be as snarky as it sounds. I love roasted veggies so much I may actually try this. Do you think roasted potatoes on pasta would be too carb-y, though? I’m seriously considering it…
3. Caroline | February 28th, 2006 at 9:06 am
Oh, there’s no such thing as too carb-y! roasted potatoes on pasta (or pizza) are delicious! particularly with some pesto stirred in…
4. Becca | February 28th, 2006 at 8:48 pm
We roast cauliflower with red onions and then drizzle a little balsamic on it. Mmm.