It’s a vegetarian penne recipe using simple ingredients: thyme, cauliflower and mushrooms, without adding any cream or milk. It’s very fragrant that you can’t resist!
The Most Meditating Part: Picking Thyme
I think the most meditating part in the whole cooking process is to pick off the thyme leaves one by one and throw them into the olive oil to sauté. When you smell the fragrant thyme, as well as onion, garlic and pepper, you know it, you can’t go wrong with this pasta.
The thyme is cooked in oil for 10 minutes over low heat to release the greatest aroma. Besides, cauliflower and mushrooms are also cooked slowly to intensify the flavour. With the aid of freshly grated cheese and lemon juice, even the sauce does not contain any cream or milk, it’s enough to coat each penne with delicious sauce.
I learned this recipe from Jamie Oliver.
Ingredients
Serves 1
- 80 g penne
- 180 g cauliflower, cut into small florets
- 3 big mushroom, sliced
- ½ onion, sliced
- 1 clove minced garlic
- ½ dried chilli, deseeded
- few sprigs thyme leaves, chopped
- a small handful of parsley, chopped
- 30 g Grana Padano / Parmigiano Reggiano, grated
- olive oil
- salt and pepper
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
How to Make Cauliflower and Mushroom Penne with Thyme
- Heat some oil in a pan, sauté the onions, garlic, chilli and thyme with low heat for about 10 mins.
- Keep the low heat, add the cauliflower and mushrooms to sauté for a bit, then cover with a lid and let the cauliflower turn soft, about 10 mins.
- Meanwhile, cook the penne in salted water according to the packet’s instructions.
- When the cauliflower is cooked through, use a fork or spatula to mash it into smaller pieces. Stir in the penne, and add most of the cheese and parsley, together with about 1 ladle of pasta water, everything stir well.
- Finally, freshly squeeze in some lemon juice, sprinkle with the remaining cheese and parsley.
Cooking Note
Cheese: This time I used Grana padano, which is Italian milk cheese similar to Parmigiano Reggiano. It tastes similar, but the price is cheaper. Because Parmigiano Reggiano has fewer limited origins and is more famous, coupled with marketing promotion, the price has also risen. Grana padano is also limited to the production area, but the production area is relatively large, the output is also large, and the price is more affordable.
