Orecchiette with Roasted Cauliflower

I enjoyed my last cauliflower recipe that I posted so much that I thought I'd make another one this week. This one was pretty good. It's not my favorite recipe ever or anything, but it was pretty good. It felt like a lot went into putting it together. I was kind of hoping it would be more tasty than it was after all that went into the preparation. Although, I am pretty tired tonight. I had a pretty long day at work and then pushed myself through an hour long workout, so I may have just been a bit tired tonight, making it feel like it took more work to put dinner together than it really did. Reading through the recipe, it doesn't seem like it takes much to put together. So still make sure to give it a try!

I substituted a few of the ingredients. I couldn't find any orecchiette pasta in the store, but it looks pretty similar to shells, so I got some medium shells. Not exactly the same, but pretty close. I also was unable to find mascarpone cheese. While in the grocery store, I looked up on my phone a substitution for mascarpone cheese, and found a website that showed how to combine ricotta cheese and heavy cream to use as a mascarpone substitute. I mixed that together tonight, but ended up not using it. I'm not sure if I messed something up along the way, but it just did not look very appetizing at all!! It didn't look like something I wanted to mix in with the rest of the food. Luckily I had some cream cheese in the fridge, which I read tonight can also be used as a substitution for mascarpone cheese. So that is what I used and it worked out great!

The wine did add a nice flavor to the dish, and the red pepper flakes added a great little kick. The cauliflower turned out really good! And the panko bread crumb mixture added a pretty tasty slight crunch. Maybe I did like this dinner more than I realized...

Orecchiette with Roasted Cauliflower
Pampered Chef The Vegetarian Table
Published by The Pampered Chef, Ltd. in 2011.

Prep time: 40 minutes  Total time: 40 minutes  Yield: 6 servings

12 oz uncooked orecchiette pasta (3 cups)
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
2 tbsp olive oil, divided
6 garlic cloves, pressed, divided
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/2 large head cauliflower (3 cups small florets)
1 medium red onion
1 1/4 tsp salt, divided
1 1/2 cups dry white wine such as Sauvignon Blanc
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/3 cup mascarpone cheese
2 oz Parmesan cheese, grated
1/2 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
5 cups fresh baby spinach leaves

1. Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and oil. Carefully remove 1/2 cup of the cooking water for later use. Drain pasta and set aside. Meanwhile, combine bread crumbs, 1 tbsp of the oil and one of the pressed garlic cloves in Large Micro-Cooker; mix well. Microwave, uncovered, on high 1-2 minutes or until light golden brown, stirring every 30 seconds. Stir in parsley; set aside.
2. Cut cauliflower into small florets and onion into 1/2-in. wedges. Spray [12-in.] Skillet with olive oil using Kitchen Spritzer. Heat over medium-high heat 1-3 minutes or until shimmering. Add cauliflower and onion. Season with 1/4 tsp of the salt. Cook 3-4 minutes or until cauliflower is golden brown on all sides, stirring occasionally.
3. Stir in remaining 1 tbsp oil, remaining pressed garlic cloves, wine and pepper flakes; bring to a boil. Cook 2-3 minutes or until wine is reduced by half. Add pasta, reserved cooking water, cheeses, black pepper and remaining 1 tsp salt; mix well. Remove Skillet from heat. Add half of the spinach; stir until spinach begins to wilt. Add remaining spinach; stir 1-2 minutes or until spinach begins to wilt. Cover and let stand 10 minutes or until spinach is wilted and sauce is thickened, stirring once halfway through. Top each serving with bread crumb mixture.