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Papardelle with creamy cauliflower, blue cheese & bacon

Blended cauliflower makes a creamy sauce for this pasta dish with blue cheese and bacon

Prep Time
15 mins
Cook Time
15 mins
Servings: 2
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Italian

Ingredients

  • 300 g pappardelle or any long noodle pasta of your choice
  • 1 medium head of cauliflower cut into florets (about 580 - 650g)
  • 500 ml milk I used skim
  • 1 - 2 garlic cloves thinly sliced (optional)
  • 2 bay leaves
  • pinch of nutmeg
  • pinch of dried chilli flakes optional
  • 30 g blue cheese or however much you like
  • 1/4 cup of Guanciale thinly sliced (about 1 cheek)
  • Salt and white pepper

Instructions

    Cup of Yum
  1. Bring the milk to a boil in a medium pot and add the garlic, nutmeg, bay leaves and cauliflower. Cook until the cauliflower is soft - about 20 - 35  minutes. You really want to almost 'overcook' it.
  2. While the cauliflower is cooking, cook your pasta until it's al dente and fry your bacon/guanciale. Melt some of the fatty bits of the bacon and then fry the bacon bits until crispy. Drain and set aside.
  3. When done, remove the bay leaves and process with a hand blender until it is smooth and creamy. I found these ratios delivered the perfect thickness of the sauce, but you could add more or less of the cooking liquid to thin down or thicken your sauce. Put the pureed sauce back on the heat and crumble in the blue cheese, allowing this to melt in. Adjust the seasoning according to your taste.
  4. Toss the sauce through the pasta and mix in the crispy bacon.

Notes

  • Tha sauce can be made in advance and reheated before adding the freshly cooked pasta