Tuesday, January 31, 2017

Parmesan Pepper Roasted Cauliflower (Cacio e Pepe)

Before I apologize for mis-using the term cacio e pepe (an amazing simple pasta preparation with parmesan and black pepper) I have quite a bit of news to announce! It is well into the new year now and I want to share with you what will be upcoming for The Joyous Kitchen. First, the bad news: I’ll be updating with less frequency for a while, probably the better part of the year. However, that is because I will be working hard on two new cookbooks for you to put on your kitchen shelves! That’s right--two cookbooks! Hopefully you’re as excited about my upcoming barbeque cookbook and my upcoming baby food cookbook as I am. I’ll be updating with news on the books from time to time, as well as continuing to share recipes here.

Ok, on to the apology: I am sorry to use the name for my dish of a gorgeous cooking alchemical event whereby the heat from cooked pasta infuses into it the flavors of cheese and spicy sweet black pepper and the starchy cooking water forms a luscious sauce over all. Seriously, if you’ve never tried cacio e pepe pasta, you should. It is difficult to believe that something with three ingredients can be so deliciously sophisticated.

Why have I used the name of this preparation so liberally? Because it struck me just the other day what a sexy combination parmesan and pepper is for roasted cauliflower. Although cauliflower doesn’t exude enough moisture to form a sauce and isn’t porous enough to absorb the flavors in the same way, I still think the combination is good enough that it can borrow the name.

Cacio e Pepe Roasted Cauliflower


Serves 4

One head cauliflower, cleaned and trimmed into florets
1 1/2 Tablespoon olive oil
1 ounce Parmesan cheese
Generous pinch pepper
Salt, to taste

1. Preheat the oven to 400. Toss cauliflower in olive oil to coat. Season with salt and liberally with freshly ground pepper.
2. Grease a cookie sheet or line it with parchment. Lay cauliflower florets in a single layer.
3. Bake for 20 - 35 minutes, or until the cauliflower is cooked through.
4. Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly. When the florets are cool enough to handle grate cheese over them and toss to coat.

Serve warm.

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