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Pasta with Cauliflower Pesto

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Easy and delicious, this is a different way of using cauliflower and a take on traditional pesto. It can become a favorite fast. It's a sauce with Mediterranean flavors that uses cauliflower as its main ingredients. A genius recipe for pasta. 

  • Total Time: 30 minutes
  • Yield: 4 servings

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

  1. In a small bowl, put sun dried tomatoes and add boiling water to cover. Let stand 5minutes to soften, then drain and chop coarsely.
  2. 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.
  3. Process until the size of couscous (as Deb says). The size will be somewhat irregular. Transfer to a bowl.
  4. Put a large pot of water to boil for cooking the pasta. The more water you put, the better the pasta will cook.
  5. 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.
  6. Process until they're as fine as the cauliflower.
  7. 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.
  8. Transfer to the bowl with the cauliflower, check for salt and pepper and add more if necessary.
  9. 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.
  10. Drain and transfer to a serving bowl or divide among individual plates.
  11. Add half of pesto and mix gently. Add the remaining pesto, sprinkle with grated cheese, a few parsley leaves and serve immediately.
  12. If you don't use all the pesto, keep refrigerated in a covered container.
  • Author: Paula Montenegro
  • Prep Time: 20
  • Cook Time: 10
  • Category: Pasta
  • Cuisine: Italian - American