I always think cauliflower is at its very best when served with cheese. As much as I think this is still true I have been really enjoying roasting and frying it lately and this cauliflower and sundried tomato pasta is my current favourite way to eat cauliflower. Cheap to make, vegan, delicious and so fast to cook; we’re talking 15 minutes from fridge to table. If only all weeknight cooking could be like this!
Ingredients
You will need (for four servings):
- 300g pasta £0.30
- 1 small romanesco (or other) cauliflower, chopped into small florets £1.50
- 6 sundried tomatoes, finely chopped £0.30
- 2 small garlic cloves, crushed £0.10
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil £0.15
- Pinch saffron £0.50
- Salt and pepper £0.02
Total £2.87
Method
You’ll need a pan full of boiling water with a steamer to go on top. It’s no problem if you don’t have a steamer; you’ll just need an extra pan of boiling water for the cauliflower.
Bring the water to a boil, add a little salt then stir in the pasta. Put the steamer over the water then add the cauliflower to the steamer and put the lid on. Leave the cauliflower to steam for 4 minutes.
Meanwhile get a small frying pan on a medium heat and the olive oil and garlic. Leave the garlic to warm up and infuse the oil for a minute or two before adding the sundried tomatoes and saffron.
Remove the cauliflower from the steamer and add this to the pan with the tomatoes. Fry everything together for a few minutes then add a ladleful of the boiling pasta water. Break the cauliflower up with a wooden spoon as it cooks.
By now the pasta should be cooked, test it to make sure, then drain it.
Stir around two thirds of the cauliflower mix through the pasta and serve up; use the remaining third to sprinkle over the pasta at the end.
Adding the saffron really does add a fantastic flavour and colour to the dish but you could leave it out if you wanted to. Any cauliflower would work for this but I think the green romanesco is so lovely to cook with. If you fancied grating over a little Parmesan I think that would be a delicious addition. I might try adding some toasted pine nuts or finely chopped chilli next time. When I was in Italy last year we made a dish similar to this which used courgettes rather than cauliflower so I’ll definitely be trying that in future too!
garlic and sun-dried tomatoes sound so good in this! and i love that natural sweetness of cauliflower with pasta. basically, this dish sounds perfect for dinner (:
I have been having lots of cauliflowers, but have never thought of using them in pasta…it surely looks delicious and healthy as well!
Amazing that this dish only takes 15 minutes from fridge to table – my kind of lunch & I do love cauliflower! Have a nice upcoming weekend!
Looks great and I enjoy cauliflower in all sorts of ways! Never had it in pasta but such a great idea. It’s smart to bulk up the nutrients in a bowl of comforting pasta.
Lovely pasta and very healthy too. Cauliflower is always on my shopping list at this time of year. I am in love with it! Yes really.
Your timing is perfect, Caroline! Well I don’t have the Romanesco cauliflower in my fridge, I do have a beautiful purple cauliflower. I think it will stand in just fine… This will be dinner on Sunday!
Looks wonderful, I love cauliflowers!!
Romanesco cauliflowers weird me out but in a good way. They are so gorgeous! This is my kind of dinner, wish i had a big plate right now I am so hungry!
how lovely! i think a little parmesan is definitely in order. 😉
This looks so delicious. And I am slightly obsessed with that particular cauliflower because it’s so beautiful! Sun dried tomatoes are also one of our favorite things to add to recipes. Thanks for sharing a perfect weekend meal for us!
I tried cauliflower with penne few days back.my version was a bit different than this.. in short, cauliflower goes best i pasta recipes.. i actually like to add cauliflower in my pastas.. never tried sun-dried tomatoes yet.. it must be good ingredient for pastas i guess… What a lovely share!?
Sun dried tomatoes have such an intense, bold flavor! I love them in pasta!
Love cauliflower! And it’s wonderful in a pasta dish. This has loads of flavor — sounds really good. Thanks!
sounds like the best comfort meal!
I love this recipe the combination of flavours and the presentation are both lovely! 🙂