Garlic Spaghetti with Parmigiano Roasted Cauliflower

This is the food of my childhood….perfectly roasted, cheesy cauliflower tossed with fried garlic and angel hair spaghetti. Garlic Spaghetti with Parmigiano Roasted Cauliflower comes together in no-time, making it a perfect choice for a busy weeknight meal!

Hello, my sweet friends! It’s been a minute! For those of you who are new to CCB, I should tell you, I tend to relax my pace during the summer season. I don’t know – after my years as an educator, I think I’m naturally conditioned to slowing it down when Bing cherries and homegrown cucumbers hit the stands.

You’ll still find me here, and on social media (Pinterest and Facebook are just a click away), but a couple of things will be different. I won’t necessarily wait for Thursday to post – if something strikes me on a Tuesday – I’ll let her fly; and along with my new summer recipes, I’ll resurrect some old (old, oldddddd) posts. You know – breathe new life into some of those 8 year old beauties. So much of a bloggers earliest content is so easily-forgotten, and the need for some well-deserved TLC is not lost on me.

So! Here’s to making what is old – new again. #summeredition

Like today’s recipe….

Not quite as common as her spaghetti and meatballs, but close enough that I remember it vividly, this is a dish Mom made with the confidence that her family would love it.

Even with the little bits of burnt garlic that sometimes made their way onto our plates, actually, because of the little bits of burnt garlic – I loved it!

I realize burnt garlic is not for everyone, so this tip is for you:  To keep fried garlic crisp and sweet, remove it from the oil just as it begins to turn golden in color. Quickly remove the slices from the oil with a slotted spoon and set aside until you’re ready to plate. This guarantees sweet mild flavor with just the right crunch. Precisely what we’re going for.

We ate a lot of garlic spaghetti tossed with roasted cauliflower, but we’d also have it with roasted broccoli – which was equally good.

With quintessential Italian ingredients like:

• pasta
• olive oil
• garlic
• Parmigiano-Reggiano
• red pepper flakes
• fresh parsley
• and a seasonal vegetable

…this dish is as familiar and comfortable (to me) – as buttered toast and black coffee on Saturday morning.

The thing I love about this recipe, as much as its versatility – is its simplicity. This dish offers weekend flavor while being weeknight easy. Who doesn’t need that in their life? And with all the veggies that exist in the world – the combinations are endless.

If you can roast it, you can toss it with pasta. Feel free to quote me on that.

And for those of you who are always fighting with your kids to eat their veggies… Here you go!

What kid doesn’t love spaghetti? And most kids I know love crispy, caramelized veggies…which, to me, means one thing – you now have time to convince your kids of other things that are as important as eating their veggies, like…..

…what a good singer you are…or, how hysterical your jokes are…

I’ve got your back, my friends!

Buon Appetito!

Garlic Spaghetti with Parmigiano Roasted Cauliflower

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• Author: Ciao Chow Bambina

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Description

This is the food of my childhood….perfectly roasted, cheesy cauliflower tossed with fried garlic and angel hair spaghetti. Garlic Spaghetti with Parmigiano Roasted Cauliflower comes together in no-time, making it a perfect choice for a busy weeknight meal!

 

 

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Ingredients

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• 1 cup olive oil, divided
• 1 head of garlic or 10 cloves, peeled and sliced thin
• 1 head cauliflower, cut into florets
• 1 tsp. Kosher salt
• 1/2 cup grated Parmigiano
• 1 lb. Angel Hair pasta
• 1 tsp. hot red pepper flakes
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley
• Parmigiano

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Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 425 F.
2. In a large sauté pan, over medium heat, pour 3/4 cup (10 Tbsp.) olive oil.
3. As oil is heating, add sliced garlic and cook for 3 – 4 minutes, until garlic turns golden.
4. With a slotted spoon, remove garlic from oil and set aside.
5. Remove oil from burner and set aside.
6. In a large shallow baking pan, toss the cauliflower florets with remaining olive oil (1/4 cup), and salt.
7. Roast, tossing occasionally, for 30 minutes, until soft and golden.
8. Remove from oven and add Parmigiano. Toss to combine.
9. Roast for another 10 minutes.
10. In the meantime, in a large pot of salted boiling water, cook the pasta according to package instructions, until al dente.
11. Drain pasta, reserving 1 cup of cooking water, and deliver to a large bowl.
12. Add and combine olive oil, fried garlic, red pepper flakes, chopped parsley, roasted cauliflower and as much water as needed to make the mixing of the pasta easy.
13. Top with more Parmigiano.
14. Serve warm.

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