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Home > Meal Type > Main Dishes > Roasted Cauliflower Pasta with Creamy Garlic Sauce

Roasted Cauliflower Pasta with Creamy Garlic Sauce

Updated: Aug 16th 2019 • Published: Nov 12th 2018 • 16 Comments

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This Roasted Cauliflower with Creamy Garlic Pasta is an elegant yet simple vegetarian pasta dinner. Perfect for entertaining or dinners on meatless Monday. The cream and garlic come together to make a creamy dreamy sauce that is pure comfort food, whilst the roast cauliflower gives some texture to the pasta. This really is a delicious vegetarian dinner.

cast iron skillet filled with cream pasta and roast cauliflower, with a parmesan grater in the background

Jump Menu

  • Roasted Cauliflower
  • How to roast cauliflower
  • Creamy Garlic Sauce
  • How to make the sauce without using a ton of cream??
  • Which pasta shape to use for Cauliflower Pasta?
  • Recipe – Roasted Cauliflower Pasta with Creamy Garlic Sauce

Roasted Cauliflower

Roasting cauliflower in the oven turns something plain into something super special. The edges caramelize, the flavour sweetens and the texture is beautifully yielding without a hint of soggy. Roasted Cauliflower will please vegetarians and carnivores alike.

How to roast cauliflower

  • Preheat the oven to 400º F/200ºC.
  • Line a large baking tray with parchment paper.
  • Remove the outer leaves of the cauliflower then cut the florets into large bite sized chunks.
  • Lay the cauliflower out in a single layer on the prepared tray.
  • Drizzle extra virgin olive oil over the cauliflower.
  • Season everything generously with salt and pepper.
  • Roast in the oven for 25 minutes until tender and caramelized on the edges.
overhead of a cast iron skillet filled with roasted cauliflower pasta

Creamy Garlic Sauce

The creamy garlic sauce comes together so quickly, you can easily make it whilst the pasta is cooking.
Plus there is only  2/3 cup of cream for 4 people!!! With a couple of tricks you can have decadent and elegant creamy pasta without the excessive calories.  And this doesn’t mean we are skimping on sauce! This sauce coats each strand of pasta with a silky creamy sauce perfectly.

How to make the sauce without using a ton of cream??

The key is the starchy pasta cooking water. It thickens the sauce, makes the cream go further and gives it the amazing ability to coat the pasta.

Start by cooking the pasta for a little less than the packet suggests, this is because it is going to finish cooking in the creamy garlic sauce. Then before you drain the pasta reserve 2 cups of the water.

This water gets used to thin the cream sauce and then the pasta is added back in and everything just comes together into a big skillet of deliciousness!

Talking of pasta…..

Which pasta shape to use for Cauliflower Pasta?

For the photos I used a thick spaghetti, but you could go with a linguine or tagliatelle.

I know not everyone is like me and doesn’t mind slurping and swirling pasta and then getting hot cream sauce on their chin 😉 so if you love short pasta then go for something flat like a farfalle/bow-tie pasta. Avoid tubular pasta or shells as they will fill up with the creamy sauce and you might find there isn’t enough sauce to coat everything beautifully.

close up on a piece of roast cauliflower, showing the caramelization on it

Serving Suggestions:
Side: Swerve the bread and instead go for a crisp bright salad to balance the creamy sauce in the cauliflower pasta. For the salad toss baby kale leaves with a lemon and olive oil dressing.

Wine:
To cut through the creamy sauce pick an unoaked chardonnay or a dry pinot gris. For the red wine lovers something light like a Barbera d’Asti or a Merlot will work with the garlic and cream in the cauliflower pasta.

showing the spaghetti with the creamy garlic sauce

For more delicious Pasta recipes try these:

  • Garlic Butter Pasta with Garlic Chicken (for garlic LOVERS)
  • Shrimp Chorizo Pasta
  • Creamy Rosemary Chicken Pasta
  • Pork Stroganoff with buttered Noodles
  • Creamy Pepper Steak Pasta
  • Pasta with Roasted Fennel
  • Creamy Salmon Pasta
  • Parsnip and Bacon Pasta
  • Black Truffle Pasta

Enjoy x


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4.34 from 12 votes

Recipe – Roasted Cauliflower Pasta with Creamy Garlic Sauce

This Roasted Cauliflower with Creamy Garlic Pasta is an elegant yet simple vegetarian pasta dinner. Perfect for entertaining or dinners on Meatless Monday. The cream and garlic come together to make a creamy dreamy sauce that is pure comfort food, whilst the roast cauliflower gives some texture to the pasta. This really is a delicious vegetarian dinner.
Prep Time5 mins
Cook Time25 mins
Total Time30 mins
Course: Main
Cuisine: Italian
Servings: 4
Calories: 535kcal
Author: Claire | Sprinkles and Sprouts
For more great recipes follow me on PinterestFollow @sprinklessprout
Need Metric Measurements?Use the options below to toggle between cups and grams (if relevant)

Ingredients

US Customary – Grams

For the Cauliflower

  • 1 head cauliflower
  • 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1/2 tsp thyme leaves

For the Pasta

  • 11 oz dried spaghetti
  • 1 tbsp butter
  • 1 tsp olive oil
  • 4 garlic cloves
  • 2/3 cup heavy cream
  • 1 tsp thyme leaves
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper

Instructions

For the cauliflower

  • Preheat you oven to 400º F/200ºC.
  • Line a large baking tray with parchment paper.
  • Remove the outer leaves of the cauliflower and cut the florets into large bite sized chunks.
  • Lay the cauliflower out in a single layer and drizzle over the extra virgin olive oil.
  • Season the cauliflower generously with salt and pepper and roast in the oven for 25 minutes until tender and caramelized on the edges. Remove from the oven and set aside until needed.

For the pasta

  • Bring a large pot of water to boil and then add a good amount of salt.
  • Add the spaghetti and cook until al dente. (usually around 1 minute less than the packet suggests)
  • Meanwhile, peel and finely slice the garlic.
  • Heat the butter and olive oil in a deep skillet over low heat.
  • Add the garlic slices and sauté for 2 minutes (don’t let them colour).
  • Add the cream and bring to boil.
  • Add in the thyme leaves, salt and pepper, then turn heat down to low and simmer for 3 minutes.
  • Before draining the pasta, scoop out 2 cups of cooking water and keep to one side.
  • After reserving the cooking water drain the pasta in a colander.
  • Transfer the pasta and 1/2 cup of reserved pasta water into the pan with the sauce.
  • Place it over a medium heat and gently turn the pasta in the sauce to create a silky coating on each strand.
  • Add more cooking water if needed.
  • Stir in the roasted cauliflower and serve with grated parmesan and thyme leaves.

Nutrition

Calories: 535kcal | Carbohydrates: 61g | Protein: 11g | Fat: 26g | Saturated Fat: 12g | Cholesterol: 61mg | Sodium: 344mg | Potassium: 295mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 670IU | Vitamin C: 14.4mg | Calcium: 53mg | Iron: 1.2mg
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Filed Under: All Recipes, Main Dishes, Pasta Recipes

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Shelley Spies says

    Oct 23rd 2019 at 7:08 am

    5 stars
    Absolutely delicious and easy! We added a handful of wild arugula right before serving, due to the fact that I forgot to prepare a salad. Thank you for the recipe, I look forward to trying more from this site!

    Reply
    • Claire McEwen says

      Oct 25th 2019 at 5:11 am

      Oh I bet the arugula was a fabulous addition!
      So pleased you enjoyed the dish.
      Thank you for taking the time to come back and comment 😀
      Cx

      Reply
  2. Helen says

    Oct 17th 2019 at 2:52 am

    5 stars
    Really lovely and surprisingly tasty, easy to prepare. I just added some spinach to up the vegetable quotient and some toasted pine nuts for texture

    Reply
    • Claire McEwen says

      Oct 18th 2019 at 2:17 pm

      I love the idea of the spinach and pine nuts!!!
      So pleased you enjoyed the recipe, thank you for coming back to comment.
      Cx

      Reply
  3. Momdukes says

    Jun 7th 2019 at 3:19 am

    5 stars
    Great recipe! Even my meat-eating family members thought it was superb. I will definitely make it again.

    Reply
    • Claire McEwen says

      Jun 7th 2019 at 5:04 am

      Oh yeah 😀 😀
      So pleased your family enjoyed it!
      Thank you for coming back to comment
      Cx

      Reply
  4. Pranita says

    Jan 27th 2019 at 11:35 pm

    Yummy, delicious & easy to make .

    Reply
    • Claire McEwen says

      Feb 22nd 2019 at 1:17 pm

      Thank you Pranita, it is one of our favourite #MeatlessMonday dishes 😀

      Reply
  5. Darshan says

    Jan 24th 2019 at 6:14 pm

    5 stars
    This Roasted Cauliflower with Creamy Garlic Pasta is Very Nice.
    Best startup Business In Indore.

    Reply
    • Claire McEwen says

      Feb 22nd 2019 at 2:31 pm

      I am so pleased you enjoyed it Darshan, it is one of my favorite vegetarian pasta dishes

      Reply
  6. Nic says

    Nov 19th 2018 at 9:57 am

    5 stars
    Eating a 2nd dinner, because the first was so good. yum!

    Reply
    • Claire McEwen says

      Nov 19th 2018 at 5:18 pm

      Hehe, now that sounds like the perfect plan 😀
      So please you loved it!

      Reply
  7. Cynthia says

    Nov 18th 2018 at 3:43 pm

    5 stars
    Great suggestions for the wine, wish everybody would do that! We went wine shopping for a “romantic evening” we had last week, and being there noticed neither me nor my husband knows anything about wine!

    Reply
    • Claire McEwen says

      Nov 19th 2018 at 9:05 am

      I am so pleased you found it useful 😀
      It is something I am slowly introducing on my posts as I get friends asking me what wine they should choose for the dish and I thought perhaps my readers would too.

      Reply
  8. Karly says

    Nov 16th 2018 at 11:10 pm

    This looks so good!! Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
    • Claire McEwen says

      Nov 18th 2018 at 6:41 am

      Thank you Karly, it is a family favorite 🙂

      Reply

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Claire | Sprinkles and Sprouts

I believe cooking for those you love should be stress free and simple.

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