Pasta With Roasted Cauliflower and Blue Cheese
Published March 6, 2018
Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times
- Total Time
- 55 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
1 head cauliflower, cut into ¾-inch florets
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
¾ teaspoon kosher salt, more as needed
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 large or 2 small leeks, halved and thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon thyme leaves, more for serving
8 ounces short pasta such as campanelle, orecchiette, conchiglie, farfalle or fusilli
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cubed, at room temperature
6 ounces Gorgonzola dolce, crumbled, at room temperature
Fresh lemon juice, to taste
2 tablespoons chopped chives, for serving
Nutritional analysis per serving (3 to 4 servings)
54 grams carbs; 55 milligrams cholesterol; 607 calories; 16 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 16 grams saturated fat; 36 grams fat; 5 grams fiber; 668 milligrams sodium; 20 grams protein; 5 grams sugar
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Heat oven to 425 degrees. In a large bowl, toss cauliflower with olive oil, salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Spread onto a rimmed baking sheet in an even layer, and bake for 20 minutes.
- Step 2
Add leeks, garlic and thyme to the cauliflower on the sheet pan, then roast another 20 minutes, tossing the vegetables halfway through, until they are very tender and deeply caramelized.
- Step 3
Meanwhile, bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil. Cook pasta until it is 1 minute shy of being al dente. (It will continue to cook in the residual heat of the pot.) Scoop out about 1 cup pasta water (a coffee mug is good for this), then drain pasta. Return the pasta to the empty pot, along with butter, Gorgonzola, remaining ¾ teaspoon pepper and ½ cup pasta water, stirring to melt cheese.
- Step 4
Toss roasted vegetables into pasta, then stir in lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste. Add more pasta water if mixture looks dry. To serve, spoon into bowls and top with chives and sprinkle of thyme leaves.
Private Notes
Comments
This recipe sounds heavenly but I'm not a big fan of blue cheeses. Can you recommend a different kind of cheese that would work with this recipe? Thank you!
Before writing off blue cheeses, why don’t you try the blue? But be SURE to get Gorgonzola from Italy or Roquefort from France. The flavor is quite different; and be sure it’s fresh (by which I mean, that it hasn’t dried out sitting in your fridge for three weeks). Quite frankly, there is nothing so good as pasta with a blue cheese sauce. A cool idea for a bit of textured topping might be some medium chopped walnuts sprinkled on top...JMJ, gotta run to make this!!!!
Perhaps a goat cheese + parmesan or Asiago (salty/sweet) + a little cream... Or creme fraiche with goat
Cooked as written (ok maybe added a bit more garlic), and it was excellent. Nice to use the whole leek and not discard the green parts. It needed a lot of lemon juice, don't skip it!
Delish! I only used a few TBSP of pasta water. I had to make adjustments based on what I had on hand…WW penne, fresh marjoram (instead of thyme) and Golden Boy tomatoes (instead of lemon) from my garden. I also added spinach to wilt while the cheese& butter melted. Topped with toasted walnuts. Lots of little wonderful tweaks.
This was unreal. No comments. 10/10 would make again.