Vegivore Eats | Pasta Romanesco

Romanesco, in many ways, is nothing fancy.  It tastes like a cross between broccoli and a cauliflower.  The florets' cooked consistency is vaguely reminiscent of asparagus tops and the preparation nearly identical to other vegetables in the same family; clusters of buds on one main stalk.  Romanesco might be something you've never seen before, but is at once familiar, and is easy to use in place of other vegetables in recipes.  The real reason to snatch this up, however, is because it's perfectly and geometrically visually appealing.  Here is what makes romanesco fancy, a vegetable that begs to be photographed just as much as it does to be eaten.

"Imagine the psychedelic love child of broccoli and cauliflower with lime-green British punk hair, and you have something close to romanesco." -- Mario Batali (photo credit: The Village Voice)

This is fractal food at its finest.  The hybrid veggie with the natural chartreuse whorls was first documented in the 16th century -- one might say the romanesco is the traditional Brassica vegetables' elegant, grandstanding Italian cousin.

Romanesco probably only wears Versace.  Fancy, sassy b. (photo credit: Brooklyn Farmhouse)

 As usual, I recommend roasting for any first-time encounter with an unusual vegetable, as I think that the gentle caramelization brings out most natural ingredients' best flavors.  I didn't stray from this technique with this little head of romanesco (from Allandale Farm, Brookline), especially since I was already craving pasta and garlicky cream sauce and thought the oven-kissed florets would make a fine addition (and blog photo opp, huzzah). Especially when roasted together with some orange cauliflower, whole garlic cloves, strips of red bell pepper and French Citrus Fennel Sea Salt (from Saratoga Olive Oil Co., a gift from my Mom), this dish sang when it came together.  

Ready for the oven.

  For being so un-fancy in so many ways, roasting romanesco's spiky edible flowers adds something extraordinary to an otherwise pretty ordinary dish of cheesy pasta and veggies; sweet, exotic, tasting of the heat waves and cool nights associated with its short late summer season.

PASTA ROMANESCO

The perfect recipe for 1, maybe 2, whether it's for a regular lunch on the run...or for someone still unsure about trying something new-to-them like romanesco and wanting a "safe" vehicle in which to try it.

 1/3 lb head of romanesco, cut into florets

1/3 lb head of orange cauliflower, cut into florets

1/2 red bell pepper, cut into thin strips

2 garlic cloves, skins on

olive oil

French Citrus Fennel Sea Salt*

freshly ground black pepper

 1/3 lb wide egg noodles

2 tsp cream

1/4c vegetable broth

1/8c + 2 Tbs finely grated Romano cheese

Preheat the oven to 400.  Arrange the first four ingredients on a foil-lined baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with the salt and pepper.  Toss to combine.  Bake in the preheated oven for about 20 mins (the romanesco should give easily when pierced with a fork but should not be in danger of falling apart).

In the meantime, cook the noodles til al dente in a pot of generously salted water.  Drain and set aside for the time being.

When your veggies are out of the oven, wait til the garlic cloves are cool enough to handle, squeeze them out of their skins and mash them.

Combine together the roasted veggies, garlic paste and pasta.  Add the cream and 1/8 c of cheese and add the broth in splashes, stirring in just enough to make a thin sauce.  Drizzle some extra olive oil over the top and scatter the last 2 Tbs of the cheese over the top.

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*PRO TIP: I realize that not everyone's Mom buys them seasoned salt, ha.  Substitute: kosher salt.  Stir in 1 Tbs lemon zest at the end.