Today’s lunch is a dish that I made early on in the pandemic. It’s inspired by Alison Roman, a food writer with a few viral recipes. She’s worth checking out. She gave me the idea here and I made a few edits. I really love this dish because it’s somewhat decadent for being a vegetarian dish. The SECRET really is the breadcrumbs. Breadcrumbs and pasta is amazing and you’ll soon be addicted.

It comes together in 20 minutes or so, so its a perfect weekday dinner with a side salad.

Turmeric Cauliflower Pasta

Ingredients (serves 4):

¼ cup breadcrumbs
½ tbsp. olive oil
⅓ tbsp. butter
2 Tbsp. parmesan cheese
½ onion, sliced thin
½ lb. orecchiette pasta
½ block firm tofu, cut in ½” cubes
½ small cauliflower (or frozen cauliflower), in florets
¼ tsp. turmeric
¼-½ cup cream or coconut cream
1 lemon, zested
salt
black pepper

Directions:

1. Make breadcrumbs first. Cook breadcrumbs, olive oil, butter and parmesan cheese in pan. Toss and cook till brown (couple minutes). Set aside. Use same pan to cook cauliflower.

2. In same pan, add a little oil (1 Tbsp. or so) and cook tofu a couple minutes until golden brown, then remove. Cook the cauliflower with shallots or onion. Cook on medium heat until brown. Some sticking to the pan is good.

3. Cook pasta in salted water until al dente. Serve ½ cup cooking water once you drain it.

4. Add pasta to pan with cauliflower and add tofu as well. Then add cream, turmeric and some cracks of black pepper and stir together. If a little liquid-y it’s okay- the pasta will absorb it. Add some pasta water if it looks dry.

5.Toss a few minutes and add lemon zest and more cheese. Serve with some parsley and red pepper flakes if desired.

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