Baked Cavatappi with Cauliflower
Delicious Baked Cavatappi with Cauliflower.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour and 5 minutes
- Yield: 8
Ingredients
- ½ pound Cavatappi pasta or large shells
- ¼ cup extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1 medium head cauliflower (about 2 pounds) cut into bite sized florets
- 1 tablespoon Spice Islands Minced Garlic
- ½ teaspoon Spice Islands Chives
- ¼ teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
- ¼ teaspoon Spice Islands Lemon Zest
- ¼ teaspoon Spice Islands Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup gruyere cheese, coarsely grated
- 2 cups extra sharp cheddar cheese, coarsely grated
- ½ cup ricotta cheese
- ½ cup heavy cream or whole milk
- ½ cup seasoned panko or coarse homemade breadcrumbs
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
Directions
- Preheat oven to 375F. Grease a 10”x13” baking dish with a bit of butter.
- Set a large Dutch oven over medium high heat. Add olive oil. When shimmering, toss cauliflower florets in oil and cook in a single layer, undisturbed, about 5 minutes—until browned. Toss and cook an additional 3 minutes, until nice and fork tender. Remove pot from the heat.
- Cook pasta in a large saucepan of boiling, salted water about 5 minutes less than package directions for al dente. Drain well and pour pasta into Dutch oven along with the cauliflower. Don’t worry—it will look very undercooked and will finish cooking in the oven.
- In a small bowl, combine all of the spices, salt, cheeses and cream. Sprinkle half of this cheese mixture into the Dutch oven and toss well with pasta and cauliflower. The heat of the pasta will begin to melt the cheese. Spoon everything into the prepared baking dish and sprinkle the rest of the cheese mixture on top along with breadcrumbs and parsley. Bake about 30 minutes until nicely browned, cheese is melty and some of the pasta has crispy edges. Let cool a few minutes before serving.
