Pasta with Cauliflower Alfredo, Peas and Tomatoes

I’m always up for a quick and easy dinner that features veggies, and this pasta dinner fits the bill. I cook the pasta while I prep the veggies, and to make this go even faster, I will often use frozen cauliflower and peas.  I get the tomatoes into the oven as quickly as possible, so that everything is done at more or less the same time, or I use the air fryer for them which is even faster still.

Once the pasta is cooked, I drain it and use the same pot to cook the veggies, so that there is less to clean up.

The parmesan is what makes this dish cheesy, but you can play around with different cheeses if you’d like or  add some nutritional yeast to make it even healthier.

If you have too much water at the end, you can always drain it, but you do need a little bit of water to help blend it.  If you’re not sure how much water you need, drain it all off, but save it and add it a little bit at a time so that you get the perfect texture.  You can even save the water from the pasta to use as it will contain some of the starch and can make the sauce really thick and creamy.

I’ll leave it up to you as to how much pasta to add, since the more you add, the less sauce you will have.  I made enough for two using this recipe, but you can definitely make it stretch further by making the sauce thinner. I would start by adding in enough for two and then adding more pasta slowly until you reach the desired amount and texture.

Ingredients:

• 3 cups cut up cauliflower (1/2″ pieces)
• 1 cup thinly sliced onion
• 3-4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced (or 4-5 cloves if using roasted garlic)
• 1 cup water
• 1/3 cup parmesan cheese
• 1.5 cups peas (cooked)
• 1.5 pints grape tomatoes (about 25-30)
• pasta of choice

Directions:

1. In a medium pot, bring the cauliflower, onion, garlic and water to a boil.  Cover, turn heat to a simmer and cook 5-7 minutes till fork tender (if the lid is not tight fitting, check after 3 minutes to make sure all the water hasn’t boiled off.  Only add a tiny bit of water if necessary. Also, if using roasted garlic, add after the cauliflower and onion are cooked.).
2. Meanwhile, toss the tomatoes with 1/2 teaspoon of oil, sprinkle with salt and roast at 400 in an air fryer for 5 minutes, or an oven for 10-15 minutes.
3. Add the parmesan to the cauliflower mixture and, using an immersion blender or regular blender, puree till smooth and creamy.
4. Add the peas, tomatoes and cooked pasta to the sauce and toss to coat.

Enjoy!