How much can you experiment when it comes to pasta? Because I cringe at the thought of people making ‘white sauce’ with mayo in it, but here I am making a ‘faux’ white sauce with cauliflower! Here me out though, because I swear you won’t believe how amazing this recipe is.
You might be wondering how I got started on this path and I’m afraid it’s not to make white sauce healthier – although that’s a welcome side effect. I had a huge head of cauliflower lying in my fridge, a large box of pasta lying in my pantry and I was mad enough to put them together!
The first time I made this recipe I used just cauliflower which resulted in an odd grey sauce with green undertones. It tasted great but looked quite unappetising. Hence the addition of carrots which coloured the sauce yellow, almost giving the look of a cheese sauce. The cauliflower and carrots are boiled in stock to give it some extra flavour. Since the resulting sauce tastes heavily of cauliflower, I like to go hard with a lot of garlic to complement it. You could add any pasta seasoning you like but I would highly recommend adding pepper since it goes so well with the sauce.
Pasta Add-Ons
I’ve kept this pasta really simple with just olives. An ideal combination would be olives and capers but I can’t always get my hands on capers so I usually do two types of olives instead! Feel free to experiment and add whatever vegetables you like. I’m not a big fan of mushrooms but they’re a fantastic addition to this sauce.
There’s two things I love most about this pasta. One, how delicious it is, and two, how surprised people are when I reveal that the sauce is made of cauliflower! It’s a great way to sneak in some extra veggies into your kids meals and they’ll never know the difference. This cauliflower cream sauce is a new favourite of mine and I can’t wait to see what you think of it!
Pasta in Cauliflower Cream Sauce
Ingredients
- 3 Tbsp Olive Oil
- 1 ½ Cups Chopped Cauliflower (3 inch florets) (200g)
- ½ Small Carrot (20g)
- 1 Cup Stock (or 1 stock cube mixed in 1 cup water)
- ½ Cup Water
- 4 large Garlic Cloves
- 1 small Onion
- ½ tsp Freshly Ground Black Pepper
- 1 tsp Oregano
- 1 tsp Red Chilli Flakes
- ¼ Cup Black Olives
- ¼ Cup Green Olives
- 1 Tbsp Parsley
Instructions
- Add 1 tbsp of olive oil to a small pot on medium heat.
- Add the chopped cauliflower and carrot to the pot and roast for two minutes.
- My stock was pretty salty so I didnt have to salt the vegetables but if yours isnt you can add 1/2 tsp of salt at this stage.
- Add the stock and water to the pot and bring to a simmer.
- Simmer for 15 minutes until the vegetables are very soft.
- Allow the vegetables to cool
- Strain the remaining stock and transfer the vegetables to a blender/mixer.
- Add the reserved cooking liquid gradually while blending until you get a creamy sauce. *
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
- Once at a rolling boil, generously salt the water and add your pasta to it. Stir thoroughly so that the pasta doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan.
- Once the pasta is cooked, drain and set aside. ***
- Finely chop the onion and garlic. **
- Add 2 tbsps of olive oil to a pan on medium heat.
- Once heated, add the onions and sauteé for 1 minute.
- Add the garlic and continue to sauteé for 2 minutes.
- Add the black pepper, chilli flakes and oregano to the onions and garlic and sauteé for 30 seconds
- Add the cooked pasta to the pan and mix until the pasta is coated well with the spices.
- Add the cauliflower pureé to the pan and bring to a simmer.
- Add the cheese and stir thoroughly till melted.
- Add the parsley, mix and turn off the heat.
- Plate up and enjoy with a sprinkling of parmesan and freshly ground black pepper!
