I pulled this recipe out of the Food Network Magazine back in November of 2010. It sounded kind of different and good. I’ll be honest-the dish as a pasta dish didn’t live up to the expectation I had for it HOWEVER as a cauliflower dish it would be absolutely delicious!! So next time I will omit any part of the recipe for pasta and just make cauliflower with panko and onions. I suggest you do the same. After all who doesn’t need a new way to cook cauliflower? Toasty and garlicky panko and french fried onion pieces with crispy cauliflower pieces-what’s not to love? Skip the pasta part.
Cauliflower-Onion Linguine
- Kosher Salt
- 12 ozs linguine
- 4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- ¼ cup Panko
- ½ cup fried onions, chopped
- 4 cups fresh cauliflower florets, roughly chopped
- ½ to 1 tsp red pepper flakes
- ¼ cup freshly grated parmesan cheese plus more for topping
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook pasta. When pasta is done reserve 1 cup of the cooking water, drain it and return it to the pan and toss with 1 tbsp olive oil. Set aside.
- Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook about 30 seconds. Add the panko and onion and cook, stirring, until lightly toasted about 3 minutes. Transfer to a plate, wipe pan clean.
- Heat remaining 1 tbsp olive oil in the skillet over medium-high heat. Add the cauliflower and cook until the edges brown, about 4 minutes. Add the red pepper flakes and toast 30 seconds. Add the reserved pasta water and cook until the liquid is reduced by half and the cauliflower is crisp-tender.
- Add the pasta, onion mixture and parmesan to the skillet and toss. Season with salt and more parmesan.
Adapted from Food Network Magazine November 2010.
Sparks from the Kitchen 