Roasted Cauliflower and Beetroot Pasta

A hearty, delicious and vegetable-packed pasta dish filled with vibrant beetroot, crispy cauliflower and crunchy walnuts. This pasta is a great mid-week dinner that’s naturally vegan, easily gluten-free and full of health-boosting ingredients.

I do love pasta, what is not to love, but I don’t have it often. I recently received some fresh gluten-free pasta which inspired me to get creative. Rather than a standard tomato sauce, I wanted to include my love for roasted vegetables in this pasta dish. I opted for earthy, vibrant and sweet beetroot roasted slowly until tender. Paired with crispy roasted cauliflower, these two are a match made in heaven. The rest of this Roasted Cauliflower and Beetroot Pasta comes together in the pan. Fry off red onion with lots of garlic, some greens for colour and bite and add in the cooked pasta. The key is to add in a splash of the cooking water along with the nutritional yeast and some vegan butter or margarine to create an emulsion to coat the pasta.

Roasted Cauliflower and Beetroot Pasta

Roasted Cauliflower and Beetroot Pasta

Stir through the roasted vegetables and top with some juicy bold pomegranate and season with lots of black pepper. This dish really is simple, hearty and wholesome while being nutritionally balanced, too. You can also add in some baked tofu or beans for added protein, too.

If you are looking for a shortcut, think ahead and roast the vegetables at the weekend and then throw into the pan to warm back through with the cooked pasta. This will reduce the cooking time by about half an hour, meaning you can have this ready in 10 minutes or less. It always feels so good to feed yourself something nourishing with minimal effort and time required.

Remember to add the walnuts and pomegranate on top as these really do elevate the dish. They add a wonderful crunch, texture and colour to the pasta that makes this feel really special.

Roasted Cauliflower and Beetroot Pasta

This Roasted Cauliflower and Beetroot Pasta is an easy, vegan and gluten-free and healthy dish. It makes a speedy and flavour-packed dinner or lunch to enjoy cold in a lunchbox and will fill you up.

If you are looking for more speedy dinner options, how about my Garlic Lemon Sweet Potato Noodles, Roast Cauliflower Dahl or Chickpea Chilli with Guacamole.

Roasted Cauliflower and Beetroot Pasta

• Servings: 2
• Time: 45 minutes
• Difficulty: easy
• Print

A hearty, delicious and vegetable-packed pasta dish filled with vibrant beetroot, crispy cauliflower and crunchy walnuts. This pasta is a great mid-week dinner that’s naturally vegan, easily gluten-free and full of health-boosting ingredients.

Ingredients

• 1 large beetroot, peeled
• 200g cauliflower florets
• 40g walnuts
• Olive oil
• 1 red onion, thinly sliced
• 2 large garlic cloves, sliced
• 4 leaves cavolo nero (or 2 handfuls kale), de-stemmed and roughly chopped
• 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
• 1 tsp vegan butter or margarine
• 1 tbsp pomegranate
• Salt and black pepper
• 2 servings pasta, gluten-free if needed

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 160Fan/180*C and line a baking tray with parchment paper. Slice the beetroot in half and then into 4 or 6 slices per half. Chop the cauliflower florets into small bite-size pieces. Toss the beetroot with olive oil salt and black pepper and roast for 40 minutes. Add the cauliflower covered with some olive oil for 30 minutes. Add the walnuts for the final 10 minutes to one end of the baking tray. Flip the vegetables over halfway through.
2. Heat a drizzle of olive oil in a frying and add the red onion and garlic and cook for 10 minutes to caramelise. Add the chopped cavolo nero or kale and cook for 5 minutes, then stir in the vegan butter or margarine to melt.
3. Meanwhile cook the pasta, drain and reserve some cooking water. Add the cooked pasta to the frying pan with the nutritional yeast, roasted vegetables (reserve the walnuts) and a splash of the cooking water to form a shiny sauce.
4. Serve topped with the roasted walnuts, pomegranate and some black pepper.

Roasted Cauliflower and Beetroot Pasta

I hope you will enjoy this Roasted Cauliflower and Beetroot Pasta and please let me know what you think below. Tag me in your creations, too – I’m @nourishing.amy on Instagram and use the hashtag #nourishingamy. I’m also on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest  – please say hello!

With roasted pasta love x