Cauliflower, 1 lemon, 2 slices of bread, pasta and a handful of pantry essentials. It really is amazing how a few simple ingredients can be transformed into some SO GOOD. The crowning glory of this Cauliflower Pasta is the pangrattato (aka Magic Toasted Breadcrumbs).
I never understood Meatless Monday. If you do grocery shopping on the weekend, doesn’t it make sense to cook with fresh meat early in the week (i.e. MONDAY)?
I guess normal people go Meatless on Monday to try to kick off the week on a healthy note. Not me. I’m usually the reverse. Fresh protein for the first half of the week, then vegetarian / pantry meals for the second half of the week!
So I’m not sharing this on a Monday to jump in on Meatless Monday. I’m sharing this because I’m one of those people who just can’t resist a bargain, and when giant, beautiful heads of cauliflower were on sale for $1.49, I bought 3 of them. THREE.
Yup, that’s the way I operate. Did you think that I planned out the recipes I post with military precision? I’m sorry to burst that bubble! Despite my best attempts, I can’t stick to a recipe posting schedule. I go to the shops with a shopping list designed around things I plan to make, but I always get side tracked by whatever fresh produce is on special! Like lamb shanks. 🙂 That’s why I shared my Lamb Shanks recipe – they were 30% off!
I don’t think people ordinarily associate cauliflower with pasta, but can I tell you – it goes SO WELL! When cauliflower is roasted or browned in a skillet, it gets a slightly nutty flavour. About as different as you can get to bland, boiled cauliflower!
But the crowning glory of this pasta has to be the pangrattato. “Pangrattato” is known as the “poor man’s parmesan” in Italy and was invented as an economical substitute for parmesan. It’s just small chunky bits of bread, either toasted of pan fried with olive oil and seasoned with salt.
Anything you sprinkle it on – WOW! Salty bursts of crunchy, golden bread, it really can elevate the most ordinary of things into something seriously delicious! I sprinkle it on pasta, gratins and bakes, roasted vegetables (try this Roasted Broccoli with Pangrattato!) and it’s fantastic sprinkled on salads too!
Cauliflower pan fried until golden in garlicky butter tossed through pasta with lemon and chili, topped with crunchy salty pangrattato. THIS is Meat Free for Carnivores!
– Nagi x
And more GREAT meat-free pastas!
More cauliflower recipes
Hungry for more? Subscribe to my newsletter and follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for all of the latest updates.
Garlic Butter Cauliflower Pasta with Pangritata
Ingredients
- 1 to 2 slices bread , crusts removed, preferably stale (enough to make 1/2 cup)
- Oil spray (preferably olive oil)
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves , smashed (Note 1)
- 1/2 large head of cauliflower , broken/cut into florets about 2"/5cm long (about 4 to 5 cups) (Note 2)
- 8 oz / 250 g fettuccine (or pasta of choice)
- 1/2 red onion , thinly sliced
- 1/2 to 1 tsp red chili flakes
- 1 lemon : 2 tbsp lemon juice + zest of 1/2 the lemon
- Salt & pepper
To serve
- Parmesan cheese , freshly grated
- Fresh parsley , finely chopped (optional)
Instructions
Pangrattato
- Dice the bread into small pieces - you want (at least!) 1/2 cup. Spray generously with oil.
- Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the bread crumbs and saute for about 2 minutes until golden brown. Remove from the skillet into a bowl and sprinkle with salt.
Cauliflower Pasta
- Return the skillet to the stove. Melt the butter then add the oil. When hot, add the smashed garlic cloves and cook for 1 minute until fragrant.
- Add the cauliflower. Cook, stirring occasionally, for around 3 minutes, then add the red onion and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Continue cooking for another 5 minutes, until the cauliflower is beautiful golden brown but still a bit firm.
- Remove the smashed garlic cloves.
- Meanwhile, cook the pasta in salted boiling water - 1 minute less than the recommended cooking time on the packet!
- RESERVE 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking water. Then drain the pasta or use tongs to transfer it directly to the skillet.
- Pour the reserved pasta cooking water into the skillet along with the red chili flakes, a good pinch of salt and pepper. Gently toss the pasta for 1 to 2 minutes, until the water evaporates - you will be left with a luscious coating of sauce on each strand of pasta (this is called emulsification) and the cauliflower will finish cooking.
- Remove from the stove. Grate over zest of 1/2 the lemon and drizzle over about 2 tbsp of lemon juice. Toss quickly.
- Serve, sprinkled with Pangrattato with freshly grated parmesan and parsley, if using.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
I cracked up as I read this, Nagi – I so relate. I try to have an editorial calendar, but invariably get distracted by some dish that I just can’t wait to make. And as the week goes on, I’m much more likely to throw something together from the pantry than make a trip to the store.
I LOVE cauliflower with pasta, it really is a wonderful match. And I love all of the textures and flavors you have going on here. If you’re game, next time throw in a few anchovies to melt in the butter, oil and garlic. Cauliflower + Anchovy = magic.
Have a great weekend!!
One of my readers reminded me that you posted one recently! I keep meaning to go and have a read, I totally forgot! Subconsciously, it’s probably what inspired me to make this! And anchovies? Definitely! I LOVE anchovies melted in things – you’re right, it IS magic! I call it the Italian “fish sauce”!! 🙂
Looks great! Definitely my kind of pasta dish 🙂
Thanks Sabrina! 🙂
I bought a cheap cauliflower the other day too!!!!! Mine wasn’t as cheap as yours but it certainly wasn’t the $5+ that they usually are!!!!
The ingredients of this dish are right up my street, pasta, chilli garlic, red onion…..Yum Yum Yum. But cauliflower?
I cook roasted cauliflower which is the only way I can bring myself to eat it. Memories of being forced to sit and eat cold cauliflower as a child, only cold because I had left it until last hoping to get out of eating the one tiny piece I had been given.
BUT……..
We all know that I am a pasta fiend. I cleared the pantry (tiny cupboard that I call a pantry!!!) out yesterday as I couldn’t find anything in there. Guess what I found???? 13 packets of unopened pasta! Yes I tell no lies. 13!!! And that doesn’t include the spaghetti, linguine and rigatoni packets that are open in my tupperware boxes. I have a problem 😉 although someone mentioned on my twitter post that it isn’t a problem it is just being really well prepared!!! I like that better.
But cooking it in a pan until golden, crispy and with lots of garlic and butter….this sounds like something I should like! So I might head back to the shops and see if I can get another bargain cauli and try this dish. Stew would love you forever as he adores cauliflower and always complains I don’t cook it enough.
Pasta and Cauliflower. It could be a turning point for me!!! Thank you x
OMG, I totally cracked up!!! TOO FUNNY – 13 packets?! Ba ha ha!! You’re worse than ME! (I don’t have a proper pantry, but I have this enormous basket of “stuff” with a hodge podge mix of half used packets of pasta! Oh gee….I hope I don’t have 13 packets in there….I am too scared to look! N x
Know what you mean about meatless Monday – totally agree Nagi.
We have the same mindset? Now….why doesn’t that surprise me? 😉
Nom, nom, nom! I would never have thought of putting cauliflower and pasta together, but I love both! Definitely a recipe to try soon! x
Hope you do Mel!! It really is am amazing flavour combo! 🙂
This pasta looks amazing! That cauliflower looks amazing! Plus the pangritata is an awesome idea!
Thanks Shelby! Pangrittata….SO GOOD! 🙂
Nagi…..!! You are hilarious!! Loved the part where you said “That’s why I shared my lamb shanks recipe…. they were 30% off!!” Laughed out loud to my computer screen. Btw.. I’ve never sauteed cauliflower but yours definitely looks much more interesting than boiled cauliflower! 🙂 Never thought to combine cauliflower with pasta… but I have you say, great combination!
Hope you get more store discounts!!
Totally! That’s how I operate – things on sale which usually tend to be things in season! 🙂 N x
I don’t care what you put cauliflower with it just goes. I am also guilty of planning and then changing my mind after i go to the shops. That is really how it should be I think. Don’t you?. Love pangrittata, I also adore it mixed with some finely chopped parsley. That’s how I sneak in more green 🙂
Difference between us though, Tania, is that you are a much better cook than me so I bet you come up with genius creations with poise and ease, whereas I am scrambling around! 😉
I have to try this pangritata, my kids are garlic bread addicts so they would be so happy! And I totally hear you on the spontaneous purchases – I bought two pounds of figs on Friday because they were cheap and dropped everything to make a recipe around them even though I had two other posts to do. I also went to the store, saw yellow raspberries, didn’t buy them because I couldn’t come up with a recipe on the spot, went home, thought of a recipe, then turned around and drove back for them. It’s like a sickness or something! 😉
I burst out laughing – that is SO what I do!! I did the same with figs once when a tray was on sale!! TOO FUNNY!
So glad we aren’t the only ones that don’t plan every post to the T. We just can’t resist a good bargain or sometimes inspiration 🙂 Pasta and cauliflower are both super yummy. Together I bet they are amazing!
I am often scrambling and changing my mind at the last minute because I get all excited about something I’ve bought!! So disorangised! 😉
I’m with you, Nagi, a few quality ingredients makes the best, most flavourful meals. I also shop for the bargains and many times my plans for the blog go out the window when I find something on special.
I got a giant basil plant at the farm last weekend and now I’m going nuts with recipes for basil – help!, lol
This is something I could eat every night. I’m a pasta addict and toasted cauliflower is like a gift from the gods. Fantastic recipe and love that it’s so budget friendly!
Giggling at the thought of you making pesto after pesto dish!!! I bet you’re more creative than me though 🙂 Looking forward to seeing them – my friend has a basil “problem” so I often get tons!! I need ideas! 🙂
Looks absolutely incredible, I’ve tried a creamy pasta and cauliflower together before and it was superb. Your photography is always so beautiful!
Oooh, you know what? I haven’t tried creamy! I must pop over and see if you’ve got yours on your site! 🙂
I wish I did! But No I had that dish at Jamie Oliver’s restaurant Fifteen while I was on holiday in London!
Gosh I didn’t ever think I would look at a bowl of cauliflower pasta and think I NEED this in my life! Looks absolutely delicious Nagi! Garlic butter and those crunchy bread crumbs – I am drooling over here!
Oh Jessica, I totally know how you feel! I’m not a huge cauliflower fan generally, but this…THIS is cauliflower done right! 😉
You make an excellent point about meatless Monday! I never would have thought to pair cauliflower and pasta but after seeing this recipe I so want to try it out! I bet the textures in this dish are amazing!
Ooh, Sam you will love this! Another read pointed out that this is actually a typical Southern Italian pasta! HOW COOL, I had no idea!! 😉
This sounds amazing! Lucky for me I have 2 small heads of cauliflower sitting in the fridge. I was planning to make cauliflower alfredo pasta, but I just changed my mind! Will try that pangritata for the first time too! Thank you!!
Funny!! I made cauliflower sauce mac and cheese with the other half! We’re totally in sync Shinee! N x
I can’t resist a great deal either! About 6 months ago I found 8 bunches of scallions for $1, and I’m still so proud of my find! 😉 $1.49 for a head of cauliflower (fist-bump) yeah! Since moving, my grocery costs have gone through the roof – everything is just so much more expensive out here, so I REALLY appreciate a meal that cuts my bill without cutting flavor!
Really? I had no idea that the cost of food varied so much across the US!! If anything, I would have thought it would be cheaper??
Hi, lovely Italian recipe, and as I’m Italian, I hope you don’t mind if I correct you: the right Italian word for breadcrumbs is PANGRATTATO, not PANGRITATA. Anyway, I love this recipe, is typical of the South of Italy, really tasty!
You have a great blog Nagi, I love your recipes and pictures!!
HI Francesca! I’m so embarrassed, I normally am quite diligent doing my homework to make sure spelling and facts are right! And you know, I even searched PANGRITATA and it comes up with the same definition! Anyway, I’ve corrected it throughout and I really thank you for your help, I really do.
I wish I had spoken to you before I posted this! I didn’t even know that cauliflower pasta was a typical Italian pasta!!! I really love finding traditional Italian recipes that aren’t main stream. Lidia is my Italian cooking idol. I learn so much from her. 🙂
Thank you for your wonderful message!
Hi Nagi, I’m glad I have been helpful 🙂 Don’t be embarassed, I checked on google and I found a Jamie Oliver’s recipe with “pangritata”, so It’s obviously a common error. Plus, your blog is fantastic and you do a great great job!
Witch Lidia are you talking about?
If you need any help about Italian food or recipes or words, please feel free to write me an email, I will be happy to help you. I gave you here my gmail address, that is the one I check almost every day 🙂
Thanks Francesca! I’m referring to Lidia Bastianich. I think she’s wonderful! I love her traditional style of cooking 🙂
Thank you for the offer! I may well have to take you up on that! There is one recipe I’ve been using for years that I’m keen to share on my blog but I am not quite sure what the proper Italian name is so I can research it more. Again, it was a Lidia recipe I watched her make on her show and I wrote the recipe down but I haven’t been able to track it down. It’s made with a rolled up piece of beef that is then seared and sow cooked in a tomato red wine sauce (classic flavours starting with sofrito). Then the idea being that you use the sauce tossed through pasta as one dish and the beef sliced with some sauce as another dish. I really love it! She also mentioned in the show that you can spread pesto or use fennel fronds of any number of things (pretty sure she mentioned raisons) on the beef before rolling it up! 🙂 I do it plain and even that is so good!!!
I know what you are talking about, but there are many similar recipes like this one. How big is the piece of beef? Did she put anything inside before rolling it, or just salt and pepper?
Hi Francesca! I hope it’s ok if I email you separately! 🙂 Thanks so much for your help! So excited at the thought of being able to chat to you about traditional Italian recipes! N x
Hi Nagi! Cauliflower is one of my (many) favorite vegetables. Years ago I bought a cookbook called Roasting by Barbara Kafka. I has so many amazing recipes for roasting everything! I know you saw Marissa’s (Pinch and Swirl) cauliflower pasta dish not long ago! I don’t buy cauliflower as often as I would like to because, like everything else, the price has gone up so much! But if it’s under $2.99 it’s mine! We eat some meatless meals, especially in the summer, but we are carnivores at heart! 🙂 PS This will be on my plate soon!
Oh gosh Oh gosh! I totally forgot about Marissa’s pasta! Subconsciously, that’s what must have inspired me to make this! I must go have another read and credit her if it’s similar, I can’t exactly remember how she made hers. I’m off to check out this book on Amazon! I must admit, I’m a bit of a sucker for following Ina Garten’s way of roasting. She’s got it down pat for almost every vegetable!! 🙂
Heck Yeah! Cauliflower heads for $1.49 is a steal! (even if we are talking Aussie $) I’d have bought 3 too! I couldn’t agree more Nagi – pan roasting cauliflower with onions, garlic, olive oil alone is delicious (like oven roasted broccoli vs sauteed broccoli) – but, darn, lady, you added butter!If we were eating at your place – you’d be shocked when my daughter ended up licking her plate clean – you’d think I taught her no manners – but in reality I taught her to be thrifty – and that every delicious morsel should not be thrown down the sink 😉
You taught your daughter well 🙂 I’d fall in love with her if she licked a plate I put in front of her!! <3
OMG Nagi!!!! Last night I made my simple oven roasted cauliflower and I just sat there..munching…munching…until I ate the WHOLE. Head! So yes I agree sauteeing or roasting cauliflower! And this recipe is vegan I think?!? Except the butter but I can just replace that!!! OMG this is love…pure love!!! And I cook for the week…so there are no theme nights at our house…except..festive Fridays in which I use leftovers for dinners 🙂
PINNED love!
HA HA!!! We are IN SYNC babe!!! <3