This roasted cauliflower & pumpkin fettuccine Alfredo is the perfect cosy pasta night in. A quick dinner of noodles snuggled into creamy roasted cauliflower sauce with sweet and earthy roasted pumpkin and deep flavoured mushrooms and juicy figs.
Okay so when I was growing up, Sundays used to be pasta night in our house. It was my favourite night of the week for dinner. And pasta remains one of my go-to quick dinners, or for those dinners when you have nothing in, but a box of noodles and some veggies left over in the crisper. And maybe those veggies have seen better days.
Whatever the case, pasta is a great quick dinner. If you use wholewheat noodles then you're really onto a healthy dinner too. K. But let's get specifically to THIS roasted cauliflower Alfredo. If you remember on the last post we talked about roasted cauliflower Alfredo sauce, and how it's the perfect all veggie solution to all your dinner dilemmas.
The classic cauliflower Alfredo sauce is not something I've been comfortable with. I find the sauce wimpy and not really full of personality and flavour. So I roasted everything to a deep golden and blended so that we could all enjoy healthy Alfredo sauce, but still with loads of flavour and depth.
You can roast the veggies and make the sauce as part of meal planning. (*This sauce freezes like a dream) If you're a last minute kinda gal that's fine too. This sauce and fettuccine number can be made in less than 45 minutes, making it a great option for weeknights, too.
When I was testing this sauce, I made it twice. Once with just the cauliflower and a head of garlic that gets roasted and goes lovely and sticky and sweet. And it was delicious and if you only have a cauli in your crisper not to worry. BUT. Big BUT here... the next day when I made this sauce again and I added a whole white onion to the roasting tray. And during the blending process I added a teaspoon of miso paste. Those two ingredients just brought the whole sauce together.
I won't go too much into flavour profiles and how and why certain flavours work together. All these flavours work like a dream together. But please change it up however your pasta loving heart wants. Just be sure to go with earthy and sweet flavours that are going to complement each other, rather than compete with each other.
And if you don't need this dish to be vegetarian, try this with some bacon and tell me how it goes. ← This would be very special. VERY.
Ingredients for roasted cauliflower & pumpkin fettuccine Alfredo
- cauliflower
- whole head of garlic
- white onion
- miso paste
- milk
- a bit o' butter
And that's it. This recipe does make a very thick puree. But just add skim milk until you have the desired consistency. This sauce will also make a gorgeous soup if you add less milk and keep it on the thick side. Go forth and blend my friends.
Roasted Cauliflower & Pumpkin Alfredo Fettuccine
Ingredients
- ½ quantity of roasted cauliflower sauce
- 200 g fettuccine
- 4 large flat cap mushrooms sliced (Portobello)
- 1 cup diced pumpkin or squash
- 4 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 figs
- Shavings of parmesan cheese.
Instructions
- Cook the pasta according to the package directions
- In a large non stick frying pan, heat 2 tablespoon of the olive oil over a med-high heat
- Add the diced pumpkin. Sauté until golden then remove to a plate and set aside
- Add the remaining olive oil and mushrooms to the pan. Sauté until the mushrooms are golden.
- Add the Alfredo sauce to the pan and add back the pumpkin and the noodles.
- Serve with fresh figs and sprigs of thyme.
michele says
I love rustic recipes like this.... Im always looking for new ones to make ... I jut added the ingredients to make it for the weekend! Thanks!
Debs says
Thanks Michele! Hope you love it!
Amelie says
Haha, Sunday is also pasta night here! But I agree you can't always have it with tomato sauce. This recipe looks delicious and so perfect for this time of the year. I'll put it on this Sunday's menu! Thanks!
Debs says
Thanks Amelie! It's cosy Sunday dinner perfection!
Dominique | Perchance to Cook says
All of these flavors are seriously calling my name! What a perfect Fall pasta dish.... I love the use of cauliflower puree here and how you use diced pumpkin. Very creative!
Debs says
Thanks Dominique!
Analida Braeger says
That is my kind of pasta dish. Especially for meatless Monday and the flavors sound SO good! Thanks for sharing!
Debs says
Thanks Analida. Yes! Perfect for meatless monday!
Abby @ WinsteadWandering says
This dish is GORGEOUS. Clearly, I'm not thinking creatively enough with my use of pumpkin puree.
Debs says
Thanks Abby! Love that pumpkin any way I can get it!
Kate says
This looks like perfection in a bowl, especially as a hearty dish for November! I've been meaning to try making cauliflower alfredo and this looks to be the best recipe for it that I have seen yet! I can't wait to try it. 🙂
Debs says
Thanks Kate. It's a favourite at our house!
Anne Murphy says
I have to say I've never been much impressed with the whole concept of cauliflower alfredo sauce - but yours does sound like a sauce with personality! And with the squash as well - that's even tempting!
Debs says
Oh Anne! I'm with you. Sad, pale cauliflower alfredo... not a winner. But when you roast and add garlic... magic! Thanks so much for the comment!
Amanda Mason says
This looks absolutely fantastic!! We have pasta at our house once a week and this looks like a perfect Friday night meal for me! And a comfort meal, at that!! I love eating a bowl of warm pasta during the cold winter months!! This looks just so amazing!
Debs says
Thanks Amanda! Yep. Big bowl of this pasta + netflix = perfect date!
Jessica Pinney says
I would have never thought to put pumpkin and cauliflower together, but this sounds like such a wonderful Fall meal! I always love your recipes! Can't wait to give this one a try!
Debs says
Thanks so much Jessica! I love this recipe so much too! Perfect easy weeknight dinner!
Amanda says
I love everything about this. What a comforting bowl! I especially love that you've added figs. They're one of my all time favorite foods and I use them wherever I can!
Debs says
Thanks Amanda! This time of year I put figs in everything!
Julie says
Oooooh my goodness, we very very rarely eat pasta but this looks so good! I feel like we might have to make an exception to give this a try.
Debs says
Thanks Julie! If you are going to make an exception for pasta... this is the recipe to have!