This vegan romanesco pasta dish is sautéed with apples, poblano pepper, and farfalle pasta, and tossed in a vegan creamy cauliflower sauce. The cauliflower sauce is so creamy that you'll swear there's cream in it. Or at least some milk. But no, not a drop. Pectin in its florets thickens cauliflower into a velvety sauce.
This pasta dish is ready in 30 minutes.
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Jump to:
- 🤷♀️ What is romanesco?
- 👩🍳 3 Simple Ways to Prepare Romanesco
- 👩⚕️ Top 5 Nutritional Benefits of Romanesco
- 🧅 Main Ingredients + Notes
- 🔪 Recommended Equipment
- 📝 Instructions Overview
- ⏰ Tips to Simplify and Save Time
- 🥬 Make it Vegan
- 📇 More Vegetable Pasta Dishes For You
- Romanesco Pasta with Apples and Curry Cauliflower Sauce
One of the fun things about eating more vegetarian dishes is trying new vegetables. One of them, for me, was romanesco. I've seen it in the market, looking like something out of Star Trek with its spiral shape. Or something that I expect to see a hobbit sleeping under. But never felt the urge to actually buy it and take it home.
🤷♀️ What is romanesco?
Have you tried romanesco yet?
I call it "broccoli light", because that's what it tastes like, but it really is a cross between broccoli and cauliflower. And with parentage like that, it's unsurprisingly nutritious.
👩🍳 3 Simple Ways to Prepare Romanesco
Now that you've brought some of this spiral vegetable home, now what? Here are 3 simple ways to prepare it.
- Eat Raw. Cut the florets from the central core 'trunk', separate any that are attached to each other, and eat raw.
- Steam. Once the florets are cut up, steam for several minutes until just tender, and toss with olive oil, lemon zest, and Parmesan.
- Roast. Preheat the oven to 425˚F, drizzle with the cut romanesco florets with olive oil, and sprinkle with dried Italian herbs, salt, pepper, and lemon zest. Roast until tender, 15 - 20 minutes.
👩⚕️ Top 5 Nutritional Benefits of Romanesco
- Detoxifies the blood, making it the perfect vegetable to eat after the holidays
- Boosts overall immune function
- High in a flavonoid compound shown to kill cancer cells and prevent the formation of new ones
- Anti-inflammatory
- High in fiber, promoting fullness without the calories
🧅 Main Ingredients + Notes
For the all of the ingredients, measurements and directions, go to the Recipe Card at the bottom of this post.
PASTA
- Scallions - or green onions.
- Poblano pepper - or pasilla, Anaheim or Hatch chile peppers
- Garlic
- Apple - I used a Fuji apple, but Honey Crisp apple works just as well.
- Romanesco
- Pasta - I used farfelle pasta, the shape that looks like bows. But any kind of pasta with folds or tiny crevices in the pasta pieces that holds sauce is perfect.
- Parsley - I have a preference for Italian parsley, but curly parsley works fine.
- Parmesan cheese
- Breadcrumbs - optional, but these cheater Gremolata breadcrumbs are a great addition.
- Panko breadcrumbs - plain or with a Gremolata twist.
- Red pepper flakes - totally optional. It's a perfect finishing touch if you like a little more heat to this pasta dish.
CAULIFLOWER SAUCE
- Cauliflower
- Vegetable broth
- Shallot
- Spices - I added curry and cumin, but feel free to used some dried herbs such as oregano, marjoram, or thyme.
- Extra virgin olive oil
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🔪 Recommended Equipment
- Dutch oven or other heavy bottomed pot (for the pasta)
- Chef's knife
- Large skillet
- Large sauce pan (for the cauliflower)
- Countertop blender (to make the sauce)
📝 Instructions Overview
Detailed instructions for making this romanesco cauliflower pasta dish are in the recipe card below, but here's a quick overview!
Step 1
Cook the pasta. Bring water to a boil, add a little salt, and cook the pasta according the package directions.
Step 2
Make the sauce. Simmer the cauliflower florets and shallot in vegetable broth under tender. Add it to a blender along with the spices, and whirl it like crazy until smooth.
Step 3
Cook the romanesco. Cook the romanesco on the stovetop with the scallion, poblano pepper, garlic and apple until the romanesco is tender.
Step 4
Combine and serve. Add the pureed sauce and cooked pasta to the pan with the romanesco. Toss and serve topped with some grated Parmesan cheese, breadcrumbs, and a flurry of red pepper flakes.
⏰ Tips to Simplify and Save Time
- Purchase cauliflower already cut into florets for the sauce.
- Make the sauce ahead of time, and keep in the sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- Cook the pasta ahead and keep in the refrigerator in a sealed container.
🥬 Make it Vegan
Substitute 1 - 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast for the optional cheese or use a plant-based cheese. Or completely omit.
📇 More Vegetable Pasta Dishes For You
If you grew up with chicken tetrazzini as a kid and loved it, I recommend checking out this vegetarian tetrazzini with cauliflower, kicked up with poblano peppers. I love it so much, I included a version of it in my cookbook!
Make this asparagus carbonara and see how easy it is to make carbonara without bacon. Oh, and it's topped with horseradish breadcrumbs. Yum!
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Romanesco Pasta with Apples and Curry Cauliflower Sauce
Equipment
- Dutch oven or other heavy-bottomed pot
- Chef's knife
- medium pot
Ingredients
Romanesco Pasta with Apples
- 3 tablespoons olive oil plus a drizzle at the end
- 1 cup sliced scallions including the green stems
- 2 -3 tablespoons small diced poblano pepper
- 1 - 2 tablespoons garlic paste
- ½ Fuji apple unpeeled, coarsely chopped
- 1 cup romanesco florets about 1 medium head romanesco
- ½ cup Creamy Cauliflower Sauce, recipe below
- 2 cups farfalle pasta
- ½ cup coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley
- 1 ½ tablespoons grated Asiago cheese optional
- 1 teaspoon Kosher salt to taste
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon toasted breadcrumbs
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes optional, if needed
Curry Cauliflower Sauce
- 2 cups cauliflower florets cut into bite-size pieces
- 2 ¼ cups vegetable broth
- 1 medium shallot peeled and quartered
- 1 teaspoon curry powder
- ¼ teaspoon cumin powder
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ cup olive oil
Instructions
Romanesco Pasta with Apples
- Heat water in a large pot to cook the pasta, and follow the directions on the package to cook to al dente. Scoop out ¼ cup of pasta water, and set aside. Drain.
- Heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add the scallion and poblano and sautè, stirring occasionally, until softened and fragrent, about 2 minutes. Add the garlic and cook another 30 seconds. Add the romanesco florets and cook another 2 minutes. Add the apples and sautè until the apples are slightly soft, about 2 minutes.
- Add the sauce and cooked pasta along with a couple tablespoons of the cooking water, and toss until everything is heated through, stirring occasionally, about 2 minutes. Top with the parsley, cheese, and breadcrumbs. Finish with a little salt and a few grinds of pepper. If you want a little more heat, sprinkle with a dried red pepper flakes.
- Finish with a drizzle of olive oil and serve warm.
Curry Cauliflower Sauce
- In a medium saucepan, cover the cauliflower and shallot with vegetable stock and simmer, partially covered, until very tender, about 20 minutes. Add everything to a blender along with the spices, and whirl until smooth. While the blender is running, slowly pour in olive oil to emulsify.
- Store any leftovers airtight in the refrigerator.
Jill Silverman Hough
Susan!!!!! I saw your recipe--and photo and blog address--in Relish this morning! BIG congratulations to you!!!
The Wimpy Vegetarian
Woo-hoo! I knew it was supposed to go in this week, but our newspaper it will be included in doesn't come out until Thursday. I'm very excited. After taking a break last year due to moving, I'm so happy to be back at cooking, creating recipes, and writing. A very Happy New Year to you!!!
Jill Silverman Hough
Glad I could be the one to let you in on the good news 🙂
Chef biraj
For this I subscribed your site, cooking pasta in cauliflower sauce, it's so nice. Thanks for this....
The Wimpy Vegetarian
Thank you so much for subscribing. This is a meal that I just love!!! I hope you like it too 🙂 So happy to have you here !!!