Roasted Cauliflower Pasta with Tomatoes
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
This 30-minute pasta recipe features roasted cauliflower, amped up with Italian inspired pantry spices (oregano and crushed red chili), fresh garlic, cherry tomatoes, and plenty of olive oil. The pasta sauce is mixed right in the roasting pan, finished with a touch of cream and grated Parmesan cheese that coats the pasta like a velvety blanket.
Here are three great reasons to cook cauliflower pasta for dinner (tonight!):
It’s sheet-pan simple: Fresh cauliflower florets roast in one pan with juicy cherry tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, and seasonings. You’ll create an instant pasta sauce right in the pan, with the addition of some heavy cream and a bit of the starchy pasta-cooking water.
So much flavor: Bold seasonings are a must with mild-tasting cauliflower. This recipe uses basic spices from your pantry — garlic, dried herbs, and crushed red pepper.
One-dish dinner: You can serve it as a veggie-forward main dish, or with a cooked protein for a heartier meal.
Key ingredients:
- Cauliflower: It’s milder tasting than its cousin, broccoli. Because I can’t help thinking of white cauliflower as a blank canvas for playing with herbs, and spices, I LOVE to pair it with big flavors (like cauliflower with chickpeas and harissa, tossed with kimchi or curry-spiced). For this recipe, you’ll need one medium-large head of cauliflower, or about 8 cups of florets.
- Cherry tomatoes: Bite-size tomatoes are the key to the pasta sauce because of the way they burst with juice and sweetness in the oven. They add a pop of acidity in every bite that contrasts perfectly with the neutral cauliflower.
- Spices and seasonings: To keep the recipe short and simple, I tested it with a short list: Aromatic dried oregano (or Italian seasoning), zesty fresh garlic and enough crushed red pepper to suit your tastebuds.
- Dried pasta: I can’t think of any dried pasta that wouldn’t work with this sauce. Spaghetti, linguine or choose short pasta shapes with curly edges and nooks and crannies that cup the sauce perfectly, such as shells, orecchiette, cavatappi or fusilli.
- Cheese and cream: Grated Parmesan cheese and a light touch with heavy cream finish the dish.
Recipe steps
1. To prep a whole cauliflower for roasting, cut it into quarters, then slice into large bite-size florets about 2 inches around. Tip: Don’t cut them too small or they’ll burn in the oven. 2. Put the cauliflower and halved tomatoes on a rimmed sheet pan. Add olive oil, salt, and red pepper flakes.
3. Roast for about 20 minutes, then stir in finely chopped fresh garlic. Note: Adding the garlic later in the roasting process ensures it won’t burn and taste bitter. 4. Pour in reserved pasta cooking water and heavy cream, stirring the veggies around the pan to release the browned bits. 5. Combine the roasted cauliflower sauce with cooked pasta. Sprinkle with chopped parsley cheese and enjoy!
Roasted Cauliflower Pasta with Tomatoes
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 whole head cauliflower, weighing 2-2½ pounds (see note below)
- 8 ounces (225 g) cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
- ¼ cup (60 ml) extra virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano, or Italian seasoning
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper, add more or less to taste
- Kosher salt
- 6 ounces (170 g) dried pasta
- 1 teaspoon grated or finely chopped garlic
- ¼ cup (60 ml) heavy whipping cream
- ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 tablespoons chopped parsley, or fresh basil
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 (220C) degrees.
- Cut the cauliflower into four wedges. Trim off the stem, keeping some of the small, tender leaves around the head (they taste delicious roasted). Slice the cauliflower into large bite-size florets that are about 2-inches in diameter.
- Put the cauliflower and tomatoes on a 9×13-inch rimmed baking sheet. Add the olive oil, 1 teaspoon salt, the oregano and red pepper. Toss the vegetables around so they're evenly coated with the oil and seasonings. Roast 20 minutes. Carefully remove the pan from the oven and add the garlic, stirring it in with a spatula. Continue roasting 5-7 more minutes, until the cauliflower is tender and the tomatoes are juicy and caramelized on the edges.
- While the cauliflower is roasting, bring a large pot of water to a boil and add a generous amount of salt. Add the pasta and cook until al dente, about 10 minutes depending on the shape. Scoop out and reserve ½ cup of the cooking water. Drain the pasta and transfer to a serving bowl.
- Remove the sheet pan from the oven and sprinkle 2 tablespoons of the cheese over the vegetables. Pour the cream and ¼ cup of the pasta cooking water into the pan. Stir everything around with with a spatula, scraping the bottom of the pan to release any browned bits.
- Tip the vegetables and pan sauce out over the pasta, and stir together to meld. Sprinkle with the parsley and remaining cheese and serve.
Karen’s Notes and Tips
- You can opt to buy pre-prepped raw cauliflower, available in the produce section of many grocery stores. After the stem and core are trimmed off, a medium-large cauliflower will yield about 8 cups of florets, which weigh approximately 1 3/4 pounds.
- Tip: To prevent the vegetables from burning, use a sheet pan that’s not too large, one that holds all the vegetables snugly in one layer. A quarter-size pan (13×9) is a perfect size for this recipe.
Nutrition
Nutrition facts are calculated by third-party software. If you have specific dietary needs, please refer to your favorite calculator.
Hey, I’m Karen
Creator of Familystyle Food
I’m a food obsessed super-taster and professionally trained cook ALL about creating elevated dinners with everyday ingredients. Find simplified recipes made from scratch and enjoy incredibly tasty food! Read more about me here.
Leave a comment and star rating
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Oh, this was delicious. I have a deeper sided 9×13 metal roasting pan which was perfect for making the pan sauce (I don’t seem to be able to stir liquid very well on my shallow rimmed baking sheets). Gave the cauliflower about a 10 minute head start on the tomatoes, and upped the pasta to 8 oz.
Thanks for sharing your tips. I’m happy you enjoyed it!
We made this for dinner last night and it was so so tasty! Really great for vegetarians.
Thanks Domenica. I agree, Michael Chiarello really has a talent, not only for performing as a food celeb, but as a teacher. I like how he respects tradition, but brings his own personal style to his food. Good for you for being so clever 🙂 I could learn something from you, too!
I made this last night for dinner and we all loved it. I did not have the peperoncini a pezzi so I had to improvise ~ I used Vietnamese chili garlic sauce, of all things! I also chopped up a few anchovies in spicy sauce and tossed those in as well. Delicious. Thank you for the inspiration.
Anchovies! What a great addition. Now I’m hungry thinking about that combination…thank goodness for international chili sauces, too. Love your improv!
I love this twist on carbonara, what great flavors!
Thanks, Laura, glad you think so – they are my favorite flavors.
This is a nice twist to my usual Sicilian style cauliflower and pasta w/ capers and raisins!
I will try it this weekend! Thank you!
Hi Stacey – that Sicilian-style cauliflower sounds delish!