PASTA WITH ROASTED CAULIFLOWER AND BLUE CHEESE

Pasta With Roasted Cauliflower and Blue Cheese image

When creamy Gorgonzola dolce hits a pot full of hot pasta, it melts into a rich and complex sauce without your having to do much more than stir. Here, the pasta and sauce are tossed with roasted cauliflower and caramelized, browned leeks. It's comfort food, but with a blue-cheese bite.

Provided by Melissa Clark

Categories dinner, weekday, pastas, main course

Time 55m

Yield 3 to 4 servings

Number Of Ingredients 12

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Ingredients

1 head cauliflower, cut into 3/4-inch florets
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt, more as needed
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 large or 2 small leeks, halved and thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon thyme leaves, more for serving
8 ounces short pasta such as campanelle, orecchiette, conchiglie, farfalle or fusilli
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cubed, at room temperature
6 ounces Gorgonzola dolce, crumbled, at room temperature
Fresh lemon juice, to taste
2 tablespoons chopped chives, for serving

Steps:

Heat oven to 425 degrees. In a large bowl, toss cauliflower with olive oil, salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Spread onto a rimmed baking sheet in an even layer, and bake for 20 minutes.
Add leeks, garlic and thyme to the cauliflower on the sheet pan, then roast another 20 minutes, tossing the vegetables halfway through, until they are very tender and deeply caramelized.
Meanwhile, bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil. Cook pasta until it is 1 minute shy of being al dente. (It will continue to cook in the residual heat of the pot.) Scoop out about 1 cup pasta water (a coffee mug is good for this), then drain pasta. Return the pasta to the empty pot, along with butter, Gorgonzola, remaining 3/4 teaspoon pepper and 1/2 cup pasta water, stirring to melt cheese.
Toss roasted vegetables into pasta, then stir in lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste. Add more pasta water if mixture looks dry. To serve, spoon into bowls and top with chives and sprinkle of thyme leaves.

Nutrition Facts : @context http, Calories 606, UnsaturatedFat 18 grams, Carbohydrate 54 grams, Fat 36 grams, Fiber 5 grams, Protein 20 grams, SaturatedFat 16 grams, Sodium 648 milligrams, Sugar 5 grams, TransFat 0 grams