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Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Whole Wheat Penne with Caramelized Onions and Cauliflower

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cauliflower 2

 

Sounds healthy doesn't it? You bet it is, and it is also very tasty, if I may say so. I am not sure why cauliflower is not more popular. I think it is a wonderful vegetable and after making a crunchy salad the other day I had about a half of  a cauliflower head left in the fridge. If I was cooking only for myself, I could easily have used only cauliflowers, olive oil, garlic and lots of good cheese. But since this was meant to be a meal for both of us (and Andrew is not a huge cauliflower fan) I decided to add some more flavour by adding browned onions. The result is a very flavorful yet simple pasta dish.

 

cauliflower 5psd

Whole Wheat Penne with Caramelized Onions and Cauliflower Recipe:

serves 2 people generously

1/2 package of whole wheat penne ( use regular if you prefer)

1/2 head of cauliflower

1 tablespoon of unsalted butter

1 tablespoon of garlic

1 tablespoon of chopped fresh thyme

1/2 onion, thinly sliced

2 tablespoons of white whine (or use some of the pasta cooking liquid instead)

1/4 cup of panko or  breadcrumbs

2 tablespoons of fresh chopped parsley

salt and pepper

 

Fill a large pot with water and bring it to a full boil. Salt it well and cook the entire piece of cauliflower in it for about 5 minutes, tops. Remove the cauliflower and shock it by placing it in some iced water. Once it's cold, dry it and cut into bite-size florets. Set aside.

Cook the penne in the same water you cooked the cauliflower. Drain and set aside, reserving some of the cooking liquid, if using.

Heat a large skillet over medium-heat. Add olive oil and melt the butter in it. Cook the onions along with the thyme until the onions are browned and caramelized. Add the wine or cooking liquid and scrape the bottom of the skillet to remove the brown bits. Let if boil off, add the cauliflower and cook it for another couple of minutes until the cauliflower is warm again. Add the panko or breadcrumbs, stir it. Add the chopped parsley and serve.

 

Enjoy it!

 

cauliflower 3

14 comments:

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

Your latest posts haven't been showing up in my Google Reader!! I've missed so many!! :-(

Anonymous said...

wow this pasta looks great. your photos are beautiful!

Anonymous said...

Rita, esse prato ta com uma cara otima. Outro dia fui fazer cebolas caramelizadas e nao ficaram muito escuras, mas acho que so coloquei azeite, esqueci da manteiga. Eu gosto delas bem escurinhas.

Rita said...

VeggieGirl- You are back!!! I am so happy!!! I thought you had abandoned me.... You know, I also have this problem with google reader witha few blogs that I follow.

Tasty Trends- thank you so much!

carla - eu uso manteiga porque gosto do sabor dela, mas pode fazer so com azeite sim. Eu acho que o segredo de se fazer uma boa cebola caramelizada e ter paciencia (o que e dificil p mim), mas as cebolas tem que cozinhar devagar pra pegar a cor, e nao pode mexer muito nao, pelo menos no comeco. Ajudei?
beijinhos p ti

thisoldbroad said...

I followed your seasoning salt recipe from Food Gawker, (BRILLIANT IDEA!), & discovered some great looking recipes in your archives. Especially the cooking for 1 section. I'm going to love browsing through your recipes! Thank you for sharing. ;o}

test it comm said...

This pasta sounds good! I think I might have to try roasting the cauliflower for it. I like using whole wheat pasta whenever possible as well.

Hayley said...

This sounds like such a perfect meal. You've combined some of my favorite flavors, and I can't wait to try it out. Thanks for sharing!

Anonymous said...

This sounds great. Mark Bittman just did a post last week on his blog about pasta and cauliflower that I have been meaning to try, but this actually sounds tastier. Nice job!

Rita said...

Val- welcome!! browse, browse, browse...I hope you like it!

Kevin- roasting the cauliflower would be nice too, but requires an extra item to wash afterwards...lazy me...:)

Hayley- thanks so much

Sara- I also saw Bittman's recipe. I've been doing this pasta for a long time, I don't know why people don't cook with cauliflower more often, maybe it's because of its pale colour...? The same recipe works really well with rice too.

Michelle {lovely little things} said...

That looks scrumptious! Love carmelized onions!

Anonymous said...

I tried this tonight and it was wonderful. The cauliflower was a meaty yet sweet addition to the pasta. I had cilantro instead of parsley and used lots more cooking liquid (pasta water AND white wine). Will definitely make this again, and like Kevin, will try roasting the cauliflower. (If I can be bothered!)

Anonymous said...

I tried this today and it was awesome. Will definitely make this again.

Vegetarian Zest said...

I'm a pasta lover and can eat it anytime. Yummm...this looks way too tempting.

¡Fräulein! said...

looks divine...i'm going to try it tonight.

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