CAULIFLOWER + BURRATA PENNE

Feb 22, 2019 | mains, pasta

Can we just talk about burrata for a second? It maybe one of the best foods to ever be created. It is a little pricey, but once in awhile you have to splurge and enjoy. You don’t typically heat burrata because it just does not hold up well that way. So when you make this recipe, you will be adding the burrata on top at the very end.

This recipe is very simple, but the flavours and textures are not. You’re going to start by making a lazy pesto, which you’ll combine with a little pasta water and that will be your sauce. You could also skip this step and do a store bought pesto, but make sure it is a good quality one. I don’t like the cheap, factory made pestos. They’re so oily and lack all of the fresh flavours. Then you’ll roast the cauliflower. You’re going to use more Panko than it looks like you need because those crispy crumbs are going to be part of the dish.

Once you’ve cooked your pasta, you’ll toss with the sauce, then add the cauliflower. You’ll pour it all into a large serving dish and top with torn burrata and fresh basil.

As is the case with all of my pasta dishes, I love that it pretty well has an equal ratio of pasta to vegetable (cauliflower here). When you get pasta in restaurants, it’s typically the opposite. That’s okay too, but this is a great way to make your weeknight dinners at home packed with veggies.

Print Recipe
 Cauliflower + Burrata Penne
By: Samantha Goren, RD
Servings
Ingredients
  • 1 head cauliflower, cut into florets
  • 1 lb penne
  • 1 ball burrata
  • 1/3 - 1/2 cup Panko bread crumbs
  • 1/2 cup grated parmesan
  • olive oil
  • sea salt and pepper to taste
  • 6 leaves fresh Basil
Servings
Ingredients
  • 1 head cauliflower, cut into florets
  • 1 lb penne
  • 1 ball burrata
  • 1/3 - 1/2 cup Panko bread crumbs
  • 1/2 cup grated parmesan
  • olive oil
  • sea salt and pepper to taste
  • 6 leaves fresh Basil
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 400 F.
  2. Put cauliflower on sheet pan, drizzle with olive oil, seas with salt and pepper and sprinkle with bread crumbs and ½ of the parmesan. Toss to coat well. You will want to use more bread crumbs than covers the cauliflower because that will be used later. Bake for 20 minutes or until crispy.
  3. In a large pot, cook pasta to al dente, drain and set aside. Make sure to reserve about ¼ cup pasta water.
  4. In a pestle and mortar, mash together: basil, remainder of parmesan, olive oil, salt and pepper.
  5. Over low heat, add basil mixture and pasta water to the same pot you cooked noodles in. Then immediately add noodles and lastly add cauliflower. Pour pasta into family size serving dish and top with torn pieces of burrata.