Yellow Cauliflower & Guanciale Pasta

Name: Yellow Cauliflower & Guanciale Pasta
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 6
Ingredients: 200g of long thin pasta of your choice (we’d recommend bigoli); 1 head yellow cauliflower; 150g guanciale, cubed; Drizzle olive oil; Plenty of cracked black pepper; 2 cloves confit garlic; 100g Parmesan; 2 tablespoons crème fraiche; Juice of ½ lemon; 120g panko breadcrumbs; Salt, to season; Pinch chilli flakes, to garnish; Fresh thyme leaves, to garnish

Rated 5.0 stars by 1 users

Author:

Bex Blundy

Servings

Prep Time

10 minutes

Cook Time

20 minutes

This creamy pasta dish is made with a whole head of yellow cauliflower. The smoky, funky guanciale adds depth of flavour, and a gorgeous texture comes from the toasted breadcrumbs.

Black plate with bright spaghetti topped with breadcrumbs and Parmesan

Ingredients

200g of long thin pasta of your choice (we’d recommend bigoli)
1 head yellow cauliflower
150g guanciale, cubed
Drizzle olive oil
Plenty of cracked black pepper
2 cloves confit garlic
100g Parmesan
2 tablespoons crème fraiche
Juice of ½ lemon
120g panko breadcrumbs
Salt, to season
Pinch chilli flakes, to garnish
Fresh thyme leaves, to garnish

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Directions

Prepare the cauliflower: Remove the leaves and the hardy stalk from the cauliflower, then chop it up into tiny bits. It will resemble scrambled egg, this is how small it should be!
Fry the guanciale: With a small drizzle of olive oil in a large frying pan, over medium heat. Add plenty of freshly cracked black pepper. Fry the guanciale until it is crispy and browned and has released a lot of it’s fat, about 5 minutes. After this time, pour out and reserve a few tablespoons of guanciale fat to toast the panko breadcrumb topping in later.
Fry the cauliflower: Fry the cauliflower with the guanciale for 10 mins until it begins to break down and soften.
Start cooking the pasta: Bring a large saucepan of heavily salted water to the boil and add the pasta. Cook to the packages instructions to reach al dente (normally 8-12 minutes)
Add the confit garlic, the Parmesan, the lemon and some pasta water: Grate in plenty of Parmesan and two chopped up confit garlic cloves. Squeeze in the lemon juice. Stir to combine. Add 3-4 ladles of pasta water from the pasta saucepan to the cauliflower mix. The starch in the water from the pasta will thicken the sauce and make it glossy.
Add the crème fraiche: Into the cauliflower mix. The final touch to a creamy and luxurious sauce!
Fry the breadcrumb topping: Fry the panko until toasted and golden brown in the reserved guanciale fat, with a pinch of chilli flakes, a pinch of salt and the fresh thyme leaves, about 3-5 minutes.
Combine the pasta and the sauce: When the pasta is cooked, add it into the pan with the cauliflower sauce and stir to combine.
Serve the pasta: With the toasted panko breadcrumb garnish on top and some extra Parmesan grated on top too, if you’d like.

Recipe Note

Pasta FAQs

How do I make homemade pasta sauce?

Reserving a few ladles worth of your starchy pasta water to add to your pasta sauce will help to emulsify the sauce and bring a silky texture and luxurious mouth-feel.

How salty should my pasta water be?

There's a saying that it should be "as salty as the sea". We think the perfect pasta water seasoning is three or four tablespoons of table salt.

What is guanciale?

Guanciale is a cured pork product made from pork jowl or cheek. It is smokier and funkier than pancetta and it is the most traditional Italian meat used to make iconic pasta sauces such as carbonara.