Cacio e Pepe Roasted Cauliflower.
This roasted cacio e pepe cauliflower is your new go-to side dish! It’s golden and crisp and cheesy and so flavorful with a hint of spice. More importantly, it goes with just about anything!
I’ve got the best side dish coming right at you!
This cacio e pepe can go right alongside all of your favorite winter dishes. It’s crispy and roasted and cheesy and fabulous.
I’ve made this cauliflower approximately a million times. It’s one of our favorite ways to eat cauliflower and everyone loves it!
The thing is, I never really measure the ingredients out. Cacio e pepe means cheese and pepper, so that’s what I go with.
Lots of cheese and lots of pepper!
I like to use melted butter to roast the cauliflower as opposed to olive oil. I do this with my cacio e pepe roasted brussels sprouts and those are a dream too.
I’m not the hugest fan of black peppercorns in general, but when it comes to cacio e pepe I am always up for it. I love the pasta dish and I love anything else with pecorino romano, as expected. Cheese should be my middle name!
This is what makes the cacio e pepe cauliflower exceptional:
- I drizzle melted butter and black pepper all over the cauliflower florets. I don’t even use salt here. The cheese is so super salty that it takes care of it!
- Then I also add a sprinkle of the cheese BEFORE roasting. Not much of this cheese stays on the cauliflower – most of it tends to fall off onto the pan, which creates a delicious golden, cheesy crust.
- Once the cauliflower is roasted, I like to cover it with another shower of cheese. Since the cauliflower is hot, the cheese melts almost instantly on top.
- I let the pan sit for a minute. Cool just for a few minutes, allowing the cheese on the pan and on the cauliflower set. Then I scoop it all up onto a serving platter. Or, um, right into my mouth!
This is one of those roasted vegetable dishes that you want to eat straight off the pan. Like standing-over-the-oven mode, fork in hand, just taking bite after bite because it’s so delicious!
Yes it’s super basic and easy but oh my WORD is it incredible. Tastes so wonderfully roasty and crisp. You’ll want to eat it everyday!
Roasted Cacio e Pepe Cauliflower
Cacio e Pepe Roasted Cauliflower
Ingredients
- 1 head of cauliflower, cut into florets
- 3 tablespoons melted butter
- ½ to 1 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
- ½ cup freshly grated pecorino cheese, plus extra for sprinkling
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
- Place the cauliflower florets on a baking sheet. I do not use foil or parchment for this - I feel that it compromises the crispness of the vegetables.
- Drizzle the butter over the florets, then toss them well so all of them are covered. Sprinkle with the black pepper and toss. Cover with the pecorino cheese, tossing again.
- Roast for 20 to 25 minutes, until the cauliflower is golden and roasted and the cheese is crisp on the baking sheet. Remove the pain and do an additional sprinkle of cheese. Let the pan sit for 2 to 3 minutes. Lift the cauliflower and crisped cheese off the sheet and onto a platter. Serve!
- Note: pecorino is super salty so I do not use salt in this recipe. If you feel that you need it, add a sprinkle of salt when roasting!
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I appreciate you so much!
All those crispy cheese bits are mine!
9 Comments on “Cacio e Pepe Roasted Cauliflower.”
Yummy!
I like Parmigiano . Is it a suitable substitute?
Recipe sounds wonderful for my Keto husband!
May I make a gentle suggestion for your IT people? This is a difficulty with many online recipes. The recipe is short and simple yet the print version is unnecessarily big. Font and spacing and the picture bleed into two pages when one would suffice. I end up doing a copy and paste into google docs removing the formatting. It works fine but the extra step discourages me sometimes.
Shopping for cauliflower soon!
I love roasted cauliflower! Especially the super brown and crispy bits. This sounds like pure heaven and I will be making this this week!!
I made this on Saturday!! Absolutely delicious! I added cut up chicken sausage at the end to make it a complete meal. So easy and yummy. Will definitely make again.
I made this last night and the flavor is outstanding. Very simple and tastes fantastic. However, when I made it, the cauliflower was a little soggy and I didn’t use parchment paper or foil. Do you have any suggestions on how to get it to be crunchier? Perhaps I crowded the cauliflower? Any help would be much appreciated. Thank you!
So good, I almost ate the whole pan myself as the rest of our meal finished cooking 😬
This has already become a staple! It is so good and flavorful. No risk of leftovers, either! I have been using parm because I had it on hand but will have to get some pecorino. Thanks for sharing! I love having a new go-to side dish for something on the grill.
Top 5 recipes for cauliflower and I love Cauliflower. It was great. The crispy cheese tip, perfection. Loved every bite. BTY, my top 5 are all ones!