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Farfalle with cheesy cauli sauce. So good you won’t believe the sauce is made of cauliflower
There is simply no arguing that pasta is one of our family favorite meals. I love making pasta dishes too because they are very versatile and go with pretty much whatever your want to pair them with. My kids love shape pasta like macaroni and cheese and I love to use different shapes and ingredients for a change too. Without a doubt, they are taken to the shape of Farfalle too. I made a cauliflower mash one day in lieu of mashed potato and the family loved it so much that I have turned it into a cheesy cauli sauce to go with Barilla® Classic Blue Box Farfalle.
You are certainly welcome to use other shapes besides Farfalle from Barilla pasta or even long pasta if you wish. The Barilla Classic Blue Box can definitely let you be creative and come out with amazing meal to feed your family and/or the crowd for that matter.
End of year also means that it’s holiday seasons when some of us will host holiday party or invited to pot lucks. This Farfalle with cheesy cauli sauce can be easily one of the easy dishes you can whip up in no time and it is definitely going to be a crowd pleaser. Just be ready to share the recipe with others 😉
This is such a great meatless option meal that taste so good and doesn’t leave you feeling like “Something is missing”. No one missed the fact that there were no meat in this dish and the sauce was made mainly of cauliflower and cheese. The kids still think that it’s just a cheese sauce. The husband loved the contrast of creamy and some crunch from the panko bread crumbs. I seriously did too!!!
Farfalle with cheesy cauli sauce (4-6 servings)
Ingredients
- 10 oz of Barilla® Classic Blue Box Farfalle
- Pinch of salt
- 1 large head of cauliflower
- 6 cloves of garlic sepearated and peeled
- 4 Tbsp melted butter divided
- 1 ½ cup shredded cheddar cheese
- ½ cup ricotta cheese
- Salt and pepper to taste
- ½ cup of panko bread crumb
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add in pinch of salt and then add in the Farfalle and cook according to direction on the box to al dente (about 11 minutes). Stirring occasionally. Save about 1 cup of the cooking liquid before draining off the cooked pasta. Do not rinse the pasta with water (sauce will cling better). Place it back into the pot you cook the pasta in and set aside
- Place half of the melted butter in a medium non-stick skillet. When hot enough, add in the panko bread crumb and stir until the crumbs are golden brown and crunchy. Remove from the heat and set aside
- In another large pot, bring water to a boil. While waiting for the water to boil, cut the stem off the bottom and remove the leaves if any. Then cut the cauliflower into half and then into quarters through the core. Remove the main stem and the cauliflowers that attach to this stem will be separated into smaller florets. Break them into smaller pieces if they are really large. It will definitely work too if you just cut in half and break the large florets into smaller florets by hands. Really, no hard and fast rule here. Wash all these florets in a clean water and drain. While the water is boiling, add in the cauliflower florets and boil until they are fork tender, about 5-8 minutes. 1 minute before you think the cauliflower is done, add in the garlic. Remove from the heat. Drain off the cooking liquid and place the cauliflower and garlic back into the pot on top of the stove to let any excess water dry out. Place the florets and garlic into a food processor and process into smooth consistency. Add in the rest of the melted butter, shredded cheddar cheese, ricotta cheese and pulse few times again to process into smooth creamy consistency sauce. Have a taste and season with salt and freshly grind black pepper to your taste
- Pour this cheesy cauli sauce over the cooked pasta. Gently stir to make sure each pasta is coated with the sauce. If it's too thick, you may thin it down by adding small amount of cooking pasta water you reserved earlier. Transfer to a large serving bowl. Sprinkle the buttery crunchy panko bread crumbs over and serve immediately
I got the Barilla Classic Blue Box Farfalle from Target at the Pasta/Sauce aisle. Barilla website has great information about their wide varieties of products and recipe ideas that might inspire you. I’ve seen some that I’ve put down on my to-try list. If you are a frequent at Target (like I am), don’t forget to grab this discount from Target Cartwheel offer for 20% Barilla® Pronto Pasta until 11/26.
I have to admit that cauliflower had not made it to my grocery list very often, but it has been lately for this very reason.
PIN IT!
