Cooking With Romanesco!

If you're lucky enough to live in a climate where romanesco grows well, then you may have already tried it. If not, you may not even know what it is! Romanesco is a cruciferous vegetable that's part of the broccoli family, though it looks and tastes more like some sci-fy, milder version of cauliflower to me. It is mesmerizing! The fractal patterns almost make you not want to chop it up and eat it, but if you prepare it right and don't overcook it, it retains its beautiful shape so you can oooh and ahhh your way through your meal! (It's also awesome raw!)

Sooooo pretty!

Now, what to do with this thing? I read a simple recipe a friend posted that called for papparadelle, zucchini noodles, basil and cherry tomatoes that sounded nice, so I went with that, but added some peas and a white wine-lemon-miso sauce and of course, I swapped out the papparadelle (it's made with eggs!) with some organic rigatoni. The results were amazing! The leftovers never even made it to Jeff's lunch the next day! He couldn't wait to finish it, it was that good! And it's always handy to have a simple recipe to make for guests that looks impressive and makes you feel all cheffy, you know?

What you'll need:

1 head romanesco (found at your local co-op or specialty grocery store such as Whole Foods)
2 medium sized zucchini, spiralized* (http://www.amazon.com/Joyce-Chen-51-0662-Saladacco-Spiral/dp/B0000DDVYE) or grated
1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
Juice and zest of 1/2 lemon (whole lemon if you like-a the lemon...I do!)
1/2 C peas
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 C raw, slivered almonds
1-1/2 C organic pasta of your choice, I used rigatoni but shells or fusilli would work, or you could just skip the pasta to make the dish a little lighter
2 TBSP white or light miso

3/4 C white wine
Crushed red pepper
Vegan parm such as Parmela!
1 TBSP olive oil
Cracked black pepper
Salt for the pasta water

Boil your salted water for the pasta.

Spiralizing fun!!!

Prep all the veggies and juice and zest your lemon. Spiralize your zucchini...that's the best part!

Wash and chop up your romanesco, being careful to preserve the beautiful fractal shapes. In a steamer basket (a colander over a pot of boiling water works too!), steam it for about 3-4 mintes. Remove from heat and set aside.

In a dry pan, toast your slivered almonds for about five minutes, stirring constantly so they don't burn. Remove from heat and set aside.

In a small saucepan, add miso, white wine, lemon juice and a large pinch of crushed red peppers. Stir until all miso is dissolved. Keep on low, stirring occasionally.

The pasta should be done by now, so drain it and return it to the pot, adding a tiny bit of olive oil so it doesn't stick together.

In a large skillet, heat 1 TBSP olive oil. Add garlic and half of the chopped basil and cook for about 3 minutes. Add peas, tomates, lemon zest and zucchini, cooking for another 1-2 minutes until everything is warm.

Add your pasta and about half of the sauce and combine.

CAREFULLY fold in your romanesco. You don't want to crush it!

Plate and add it bit more sauce (or not), remainder of chopped basil, toasted almonds and cracked black pepper and serve!

Bam! Done in 30 minutes or less! Bon apetit!