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    Home » Recipes » Main Dish Recipes

    Linguine with Cauliflower Pesto

    Published: Feb 9, 2015 · Modified: Feb 4, 2021 by Ashley

    This post may contain affiliate links, which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

    Reserved pasta water "cooks" the sauce in this delicious vegetarian pasta dish.

    The food processor does most of the work for this dish. You pulse ingredients and then mix them together with piping hot linguine, adding pasta water to thin it out to your desired consistency.

    Linguine with Cauliflower Pesto

    It takes a little bit of time to toast the nuts and get everything pulsed and mixed together, but you can do most of it while the pasta water comes up to a boil.

    I really enjoyed the richness that the sun-dried tomatoes and capers added to this dish. I used Pecorino Romano cheese and it worked out great! Next time, I'd probably pulse the cauliflower a little bit finer, but the taste was great, and my Italian husband really enjoyed it, too.

    Salt
    1 small head or ½ large head cauliflower (about 1 pound or 455 grams), trimmed of leaves, cored and cut into large chunks
    1 garlic clove
    Generous pinch of red pepper flakes
    ½ cup (70 grams) almonds or pine nuts, toasted and cooled
    2-ounce (55-gram) chunk Romano or Parmesan cheese, plus a little more for passing
    4 sun-dried tomatoes (dry variety; if oil- packed, be sure to mince them by hand separately, so the oil doesn't gum up the food processor mixture, before you add them)
    1 tablespoon drained capers
    Few tablespoons fresh parsley leaves
    ⅓ cup (80ml) olive oil
    ½ to 1 teaspoon sherry vinegar (to taste)
    1 pound (455 grams) linguine

    See The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook for the full recipe.

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    Hi, I'm Ashley and I’ve been writing about food & recipes here at Big Flavors from a Tiny Kitchen since 2006. I want to help you (yes, you!) gain confidence in the kitchen so you are excited to cook at home for yourself and your loved ones.

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