Ingredients
- 1 pound (450g) fresh cauliflower
- 1 medium shallot
- 1- inch piece red chile (seeded, or pinch of red pepper flakes)
- ½ cup toasted almonds
- 2 0z (60g) asiago cheese
- 4 sun-dried tomatoes (dry variety)
- 1 tablespoons drained capers
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 1 teaspoon sherry vinegar
- Salt and pepper
- 1 pound (450g) linguini
- Extra asiago cheese (grated, for serving)
- A few parsley leaves (for serving)
Instructions
- In a small bowl, put sun dried tomatoes and add boiling water to cover. Let stand 5minutes to soften, then drain and chop coarsely.
- Rinse the cauliflower, cut off the leaves and hard stalks. Cut the rest into chunks, and put in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade.
- Process until the size of couscous (as Deb says). The size will be somewhat irregular. Transfer to a bowl.
- Put a large pot of water to boil for cooking the pasta. The more water you put, the better the pasta will cook.
- Without rinsing the bowl of the processor, add the shallots, chile or pepper flakes, almonds, cheese, drained and chopped sun-dried tomatoes, capers and parsley.
- Process until they're as fine as the cauliflower.
- Add oil and vinegar and pulse until a paste forms. If you feel it's too dry for your taste, add another Tbs olive oil.
- Transfer to the bowl with the cauliflower, check for salt and pepper and add more if necessary.
- When the water is about to boil, add a generous amount of salt (coarse salt is best), let it come to a boil and add the linguini. Cook until al dente, following the amount of time it says in the package.
- Drain and transfer to a serving bowl or divide among individual plates.
- Add half of pesto and mix gently. Add the remaining pesto, sprinkle with grated cheese, a few parsley leaves and serve immediately.
- If you don't use all the pesto, keep refrigerated in a covered container.
- Prep Time: 20
- Cook Time: 10
- Category: Pasta
- Cuisine: Italian - American