This roasted Cauliflower Pasta recipe is easy to make and completely delicious! It’s made with a whole head of cauliflower, toasted walnuts, garlic, fresh herbs and lemon zest. Video.
“Following the invisible into the unknown.” Marci
It’s surprising how vibrant and flavorful this Cauliflower Pasta is! Not only this, it is totally doable in 30 minutes- I kid you not! Made with a whole head of roasted cauliflower, pasta is tossed with garlic, olive oil, fresh parsley, lemon zest, and toasted walnuts.
The lemon and garlic give it a delicious zesty flavor, the parsley a delicious freshness and the toasted walnuts give great texture and earthiness. If you like heat, chili flakes are the way to go! It can be left vegan or dusted with pecorino. If going grain-free, try chickpea flour noodles for extra protein!
Ingredients
- Cauliflower head: Provides a hearty and earthy flavor to the pasta. It also adds a pleasant texture when roasted.
- Olive oil: Coats the cauliflower and helps in roasting it to perfection. It adds richness and depth of flavor to the dish.
- Garlic cloves: A key flavor enhancer in this recipe. The minced garlic cloves are used both for roasting the cauliflower and for adding a savory taste to the pasta.
- Chili flakes: Add a subtle spicy kick to the pasta, complementing the other flavors and adding a depth of complexity.
- Lemon zest: Provides a bright and refreshing citrus flavor that cuts through the richness of the dish. It adds a zesty and tangy element.
- Pasta: Serves as the base of the dish and provides a comforting and satisfying texture. Choose your favorite type of pasta (spaghetti, linguine, bucatini) or opt for a gluten-free option to suit your dietary needs.
- Fresh chopped Italian parsley: Adds a burst of freshness to the pasta. It provides a vibrant color and a subtle herbal flavor that balances the other ingredients.
- Walnuts: The toasted walnuts contribute a satisfying crunch and a nutty flavor to the pasta. They add richness and depth to the dish.
- Finely grated pecorino – optional but good: If desired, the finely grated pecorino can be sprinkled on top of the pasta for a cheesy and salty flavor. It adds a delightful umami element.
- Optional capers: Adds a tangy and briny flavor to the dish. They provide a burst of brightness and depth to the overall flavor profile.
How to make Roasted Cauliflower Pasta
Step 1: Roast the Cauliflower. Preheat the oven to 425F. Cut the cauliflower into bite-size pieces, and season with olive oil, salt, pepper, zest, garlic, and chili flakes. Toss well and spread onto a parchment-lined sheet pan. Roast until tender and crispy, about 20-25 minutes.
Step 2: Boil the pasta in a large pot of salted water until al dente, drain and reserve 1 cup of hot pasta water. Place the pasta in a bowl.
Step 3: Toast the walnuts in the oven for 10 minutes at 350F – do this after the cauliflower is done. Or toast in a dry skillet. Toasted Walnuts and fresh parsley add flavor and texture.
Step 4: Assemble! Drizzle pasta generously with extra-virgin olive oil to coat the noodles, then add the remaining finely minced garlic (raw), the chopped parsley, remaining lemon zest, crushed toasted walnuts, capers and cauliflower. If it feels dry, add a little hot pasta water to loosen- this makes the sauce. Sprinkle with pecorino (if desired) and red pepper flakes.
Step 5: Taste and adjust. Add more salt and pepper if necessary. If it tastes bland, it probably needs a little more salt. 😉 Divide and serve among 2-3 bowls.
Variations & toppings
- Optional add-ins: Peas, kale, spinach, mushrooms, asparagus, shrimp, bacon, parmesan cheese or pecorino cheese
- Lemon juice: Since you already have a lemon out, a squeeze of fresh lemon juice tastes lovely right before serving.
- Toasted pine nuts or bread crumbs: Toasted pine nuts or bread crumbs would make a delicious and crunchy topping too! Or make our Vegan Cheesy Sprinkle
- More fresh herbs! In addition to the parsley, you could top this pasta with some fresh basil.
FAQs
This cauliflower pasta recipe is SO healthy! It’s a great way to enjoy healthy cruciferous vegetables. This anti-inflammatory pasta is full of vitamins and rich in fiber.
Cauliflower has a nutty and slightly sweet taste, which makes it pair especially well with pungent, aromatic garlic. Lemon brings out the flavor in cauliflower and helps balance its nuttiness with lemon’s bright citrus taste.
Go ahead and chop up the stems and add them to your pan to roast with the cauliflower florets! The stem is full of nutrients and tastes just as good. When cutting the cauliflower, you can discard the green leafy parts.
Serving Suggestions
Cauliflower pasta will keep up to 4 days in the fridge- easy to reheat in a saute pan or in the microwave. Serve with a big leafy green salad and garlic bread!
More Favorite Cauliflower Recipes
On the homefront: Suddenly, life has become simple. We finished our last catering event over the weekend, and just like that ten years of catering comes to an end. Big sigh…
I would be lying if I didn’t tell you how ecstatic I am. Not because I disliked catering – I actually really loved the food creation part of it, our clients, the cooking and prepping and the coming together of people to celebrate life events – all of this was very fulfilling and I feel truly honored to have been a part of so many celebrations.
But the stress of the events themselves (because I like things perfect), and the millions of tiny details that needed tending to began taking a toll on us physically and energetically. And so we (Brian) figured out a way to pare down our lives, so we wouldn’t have to keep doing this until we die.
And all of a sudden here we are, and I find myself with a luxurious amount of time. And a horizon in front of us that feels so open and wide and beautifully unknown. And it’s the unknown part that actually feels exhilarating. For the first time ever, I have not planned out my life. And it feels amaaaaaaaazing!
If you were wondering about the quote, it’s from a person I don’t know, Marci, who has this as her tagline on Insight Timer. Insight timer is a meditation app, full of great resources to help one meditate if so inclined. It also connects you with other people near you and around the world who are meditating at the same time as you. Kinda neat.
Marci, I don’t know anything about you, only that you live near me in Spokane and that sometimes we meditate at the same time. Your tagline pops up and it has been such a gift to me. So thank you Marci, for sharing your beautiful light into this world and I hope somehow this finds you.
Anyways, I hope you enjoy this bright and earthy Cauliflower Pasta! Happy week, friends!
Cauliflower Pasta Video
Roasted Cauliflower Pasta Recipe
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 20
- Total Time: 30
- Yield: 2-3 1x
- Category: vegan main
- Method: roasted
- Cuisine: mediterranean
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
Ingredients
- 1 large head of cauliflower
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
-
3 garlic cloves, minced (divided)
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1/4 teaspoons chili flakes
- lemon zest from one lemon (divided)
- 4–6 ounces pasta (spaghetti, linguini, spaghetti, bucatini, or any other gluten-free noodle)
- 1 cup fresh chopped Italian parsley
- 1/2 cup toasted walnuts, chopped
- 1 fresh garlic clove- very finely minced
- A generous drizzle of olive oil to coat
- salt, pepper and chili flakes -to taste
- Optional: finely grated pecorino,2 tablespoons capers
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 F
- Trim and cut cauliflower into small bite-sized florets and place in a bowl. Drizzle with olive oil to coat, sprinkle with salt and pepper, 1/2 of the lemon zest, 2/3 rds of the minced garlic and some chili flakes. Toss well and spread out in a single layer on a parchment-lined sheet pan, and place into the middle of the hot oven. Roast until tender and golden and caramelized in places, about 20-25 minutes.
- While the cauliflower is roasting, cook the pasta in 2 quarts of water with 1 tablespoon salt. When done, drain, and reserve 1 cup pasta water, and place pasta in a bowl.
- Drizzle pasta generously with olive oil to coat the noodles, then add the remaining finely minced garlic (raw), the chopped parsley, remaining lemon zest, crushed toasted walnuts, capers and when cauliflower is done, add it to the bowl and toss. If it feels dry, add a little hot pasta water. Sprinkle with pecorino and chili flakes.
- Taste, adjust salt and pepper and add more if necessary. If it tastes bland, it probably needs a little more salt. 😉
- Divide among 2-3 bowls.
Notes
Leftovers are great for lunch! Walnuts can be toasted in a 350 oven for 10-15 minutes on a sheet pan, or toasted in a dry skillet over medium-low heat, stirring constantly.
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 386
- Sugar: 2.6 g
- Sodium: 249.3 mg
- Fat: 22.9 g
- Saturated Fat: 2.7 g
- Carbohydrates: 38.5 g
- Fiber: 5.7 g
- Protein: 10.6 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
We loved this! But now I have to make it again because I forgot the capers.
My Granddaughter is making this for me tomorrow. I told her I’d bring a salad. Any recommendations that would compliment this dish?
Everyday Kale Salad would be tasty!
Had to take a moment and gives THANKS for such a delicious dinner!! Who knew that pasta and cauliflower could be such good friends. Loved every bite of it, followed the recipe to a T.
Thanks Deb!
Just made this Sylvia and it was delicious — and then some!! I highly recommend including the capers. I used thin red lentil/sweet potato pasta noodles because I needed to make it GF and that is what I had in the pantry. I really appreciate the mix of flavors. Thank you!
Hi Sylvia, I just made this dish and it was sensational, thank you so much. I’ve only just realised I forgot the walnuts but it didn’t take away from the flavour.
Delicious!!
‘absolutely amazing – we really enjoyed this recipe and have tried many more! Thank-you so much for sharing all these wonderful recipes!
This is a great dish- for someone who makes roasted cauliflower almost weekly, this was a nice variation on that theme. I love the seasoning- the combination of the walnuts with the lemon zest, garlic and I think the red pepper to spice it up a bit is a must. Thanks!
Delicious and fast!
I love everything you share on your blog, from recipes to insight to incredible photography. But I wanted to share my thoughts re. portion size as detailed in this particular recipe. First, it’s a great riff on a classic Pugliese pasta dish that uses cauliflower as the main condiment ingredient. I loved the addition of lemon zest, which wouldn’t be found in the original southern Italian version but added a bright note that elevates the dish. But it’s the pasta portion size that feels wrong. Two ounces of pasta per person is exactly half of what is considered a normal portion in Italy, where a first course pasta portion standard is 100 grams (4 ounces) per person. And in Italy, 100 grams of pasta would be preceded by an antipasto and followed by a second course and some kind of contorno (vegetable preparations salad, etc.). I do appreciate that the cauliflower is dominant here, which is great, but most people would expect to consume at least 4 ounces of pasta for a main dish, which brings the calorie count north of 700 calories per person. I have no problem with the higher calorie count, but readers looking for a lower calorie entree might feel misled by the portion size to calorie ratio here.
The smaller pasta portion is appealing to me.
This was soo good. I substitute the pasta for the hearts of palm noodles at Trader Joe’s and it was a huge hit. One of the best pasta dishes I’ve made. Thank you!
Love this recipe! In fact, I’m making it again this evening.
I prefer pecans to walnuts and it’s still delicious!
The whole family loved this. Have decided to get more serious about eating a more plant based diet and hit lucky finding this recipe to get started. The toasted walnuts, garlic, chilli and lemon zest gave this a wonderful and surprising depth of flavour. However, after reading a previous comment I did increase the pasta amount to feed a 6′ 5″ hungry man!
it was good although definitely add more seasoning. For me it was bland but if you adjust the seasonings this is a great meal!
This has become one of our favorite recipes, and it is now in our weekly rotation. It is so easy to prepare on a weeknight and so healthy and flavorful. Thank you Sylvia!
I simply loved this recipe. The toasted almonds, lemon zest, garlic – each ingredient added it’s own charm. It tastes amazing!!
I made this and it tasted amazing!! The lemon zest and garlic and roasted walnuts – each ingredient added it’s own charm.
Excellent recipe! It tasted so good, particularly the lemon zest. The best part of this recipe was that it was easy to make.
Bookmarking this recipe for I’ll be making it again and again!
Just made this for dinner. It was excellent, and I recommend the capers at the end, however, the portions are not so great.
There is no way this alone can be dinner for 2 or even more people. It seemed short of a meal to me so I made 6 ounces of pasta instead. I am still hungry and making a 4th meal right now. My wife and I split this evenly and we both weigh about a buck 40. We aren’t giant competition eaters. Other people mentioned leftovers.
How in the h&ll do you have leftovers from this?
Most of the pasta dishes on the blog are light on the pasta and heavy on the vegetable. I like to switch the porportions. This one calls for a whole head of cauliflower. Not sure if you used that much?
I agree with those who feel that the pasta serving is a little short and I considered that I was cooking an entire head of cauliflower thinking it would be plenty for the 2 of us. It was so yummy we ate all of it so now what do I do for lunch??? Lol. This is my new favorite!
You can always add more pasta!
Me and my family loved this recipe. We are big pasta lovers and this is the perfect dish. Super easy to make! This is above 5 stars. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!!! 🙂
This pasta dish is unbelievably delicious! We’ve made it twice in as many weeks, and we’re adding it to our monthly rotation moving forward.
The extra splash of olive oil at the end perfectly complements the lemon and brings it all together. We’d give this 10 stars if we could! Thank you!
Thanks Claire!
Smells wonderful whilst cooking!
Delicious! How long will leftovers last in freeze? Does it freeze well?
I have never tried freezing pasta! It should work? Up to 3 months- I’m guessing. 🙂
This was so fresh and flavorful- made it for a girls night and served with some red wine. Tasted like a restaurant meal!
Awesome Colleen!
I’m cooking this this evening, but we don’t have any walnuts would pine nuts be ok as a substitute?
Yes, totally!
Our local nut store was closed for Feast of Sacrifice day and we didn’t have fresh parsley sadly, but other than that this combination seems fantastic.
The pasta itself, with the added flavors, is so strong and fresh. I added some lemon juice to try and make it pop as compensation for lack of fresh herbs.
We added codfish with mushrooms and pineapple as a side. Thanks for the recipe!