Shells with Roasted Cauliflower and Cherry Tomatoes

 

INGREDIENTS

1 BOX	Barilla Whole Grain Medium Shells This is going to be a lot... you might want to consider using half of the pasta right off the bat
2 TABLESPOONS	Olive Oil
1 CLOVE	Garlic, Chopped
1 CUP	Cauliflower Florets
1 PINT	Cherry Tomato, Halved
1/2 CUP	White Wine
1/2 CUP	Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese, Freshly Grated
1 TABLESPOON	Fresh Parsley, Chopped
TO TASTE	Salt
TO TASTE	Black Pepper, Freshly Ground

DIRECTIONS

BRING a large pot of salted water to boil.

SAUTÉ garlic in olive oil in a large skillet until garlic turns slightly yellow.  ADD cauliflower florets to the skillet and brown well.

 

ADD cherry tomatoes and sauté for 5 additional minutes.

Meanwhile, COOK Whole Grain Medium Shells according to package cooking time. 

ADD white wine to the skillet and continue cooking until the liquid is reduced by ¾.  DRAIN pasta, reserving 1 cup of the cooking liquid. Add pasta and liquid to the skillet and toss well. Continue cooking until the sauce has thickened.

 

SEASON with salt and pepper. Top with grated cheese and fresh parsley. 

VERDICT

I loved the idea of this- cauliflower is not something you typically find in pasta.  It was a tad bland though.  I added some red pepper flakes before serving and that really added some zip!

I also cut the amount of pasta when tossing it in to blend.  I could see that there was going to be WAY too much pasta for the amount of sauce/veggies that were there, so I used only about 3/4 of the pasta.

And no offense to Barilla... but this pasta was the fancy stuff from Aldi.  Although I do love Barilla!

Source:  Barilla Pasta