Roasted Garlic Cauliflower Pasta
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Serves: 4 servings
Ingredients
  • 2 heads of garlic (not individual cloves, whole heads)
  • ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
  • salt and pepper
  • 1 lemon (you'll need both the zest and the juice)
  • 1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese, divided
  • 1 medium/large head of cauliflower
  • ½ teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 pound of pasta, any short shape
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
Instructions
Roasted Garlic Sauce
  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
  2. Peel the papery skin off both heads of garlic.
  3. Cut the top ¼ off of each head, exposing the cloves. Place heads cut side up on a large piece of aluminum foil.
  4. Drizzle garlic heads with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Fold aluminum foil around the garlic and seal on all sides to make a little envelope or packet.
  5. Put the foil packet on a small baking sheet in the hot oven and roast for 1 hour. When done, remove the foil packet, open it and let the garlic cool.
  6. When garlic is cool, squeeze the soft cloves into a medium bowl. Mash with a fork until a paste forms. Mix in ¼ cup olive oil, the zest and juice of ½ of the lemon (you can add more if you prefer a stronger lemon flavor), and ½ cup of parmesan cheese. Set aside.
Cauliflower
  1. While the garlic is roasting, cut or break the cauliflower into small florets (for maximum brown color on every piece!). Place the florets on a large baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil (don't be afraid to use 2-3 tablespoons, you don't want dry cauliflower) and sprinkle with salt, pepper and garlic powder.
  2. Raise oven temperature to 425 degrees and roast the cauliflower for 20-25 minutes, stirring halfway, until the florets are browned all over.
Pasta
  1. While the cauliflower is roasting, boil a large pot of water. Salt the water and cook your pasta for 8-10 minutes, or until it's done to your liking. Before draining the pasta, reserve 1 cup of pasta water.
  2. Toss the cooked, drained pasta with the remaining ½ cup of parmesan cheese, garlic/lemon sauce and roasted cauliflower. If the pasta seems dry, you can add enough of the reserved pasta water to make it creamier. Add salt and pepper to taste.
  3. Top with fresh parsley and serve.
Notes
Kids can choose a fun pasta shape, such as rigatoni, orecchiette, campanelle, wagon wheels, etc.. Whole wheat pasta is pictured here.

If your hands smell like garlic after squeezing the garlic cloves from their skin, and you don't like it, rub your hands on the inside of a stainless steel sink before washing them with soap and water. It will remove the garlic smell.
Recipe by Sweet Peas and ABCs at https://www.sweetpeasandabcs.com/roasted-garlic-cauliflower-pasta/