Name: Orecchiette with cauliflower and walnut brown-butter pesto
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 4 - 6
Ingredients: 350 gm cauliflower, cut into florets (½ small); 2 tbsp olive oil; 500 gm dried orecchiette; Finely grated rind of 1 lemon, juice of ½, plus lemon wedges (optional) to serve; Finely grated parmesan, to serve; Walnut brown-butter pesto; 185 gm cold butter, diced; ¼ cup sage leaves (firmly packed); 80 gm roasted walnuts; 30 gm grated parmesan; 1 long red chilli, coarsely chopped; 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

Orecchiette with cauliflower and walnut brown-butter pesto

This is far from the traditional basil pesto, but it has nuts and parmesan in the mix. The name derives from the Italian word "pestare", to pound. We've sped things up with a food processor.

Serves 4 - 6

Prep

Cook

25M

Total

30M

This is far from the traditional basil pesto, but it has nuts and parmesan in the mix. The name derives from the Italian word “pestare”, to pound. We’ve sped things up with a food processor.

Ingredients

350 gm cauliflower, cut into florets (½ small)

2 tbsp olive oil

500 gm dried orecchiette

Finely grated rind of 1 lemon, juice of ½, plus lemon wedges (optional) to serve

Finely grated parmesan, to serve

Walnut brown-butter pesto

185 gm cold butter, diced

¼ cup sage leaves (firmly packed)

80 gm roasted walnuts

30 gm grated parmesan

1 long red chilli, coarsely chopped

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

Method

1.Preheat oven to 250°C. Place cauliflower on a baking tray, drizzle with olive oil and season to taste. Roast until golden and edges are slightly charred (8-10 minutes).

2.Meanwhile, for walnut brown-butter pesto, cook butter in a small saucepan over medium-high heat until foaming and nut brown (4-5 minutes), then add sage and stir until crisp. Set aside a few leaves for garnish, then transfer sage butter to a food processor, add remaining ingredients, blitz to a coarse purée and season to taste.

3.Cook orecchiette in a large saucepan of boiling salted water until al dente (10-12 minutes). Drain, reserving about 80ml pasta water, and return pasta to pan. Add pesto, cauliflower, lemon rind and juice, toss to combine, adding a little pasta water to loosen, and season to taste. Top with parmesan and reserved sage leaves and serve with lemon wedges.

Maxwell Adey Senior Food Editor & Stylist

Maxwell has always been passionate about food. Born into a restaurateur and award-winning produce farming family, he was strongly steered into pursuing a career in advertising after completing his Bachelor of Public Communication at University of Technology, Sydney. After a very short stint, he decided to enrol in Commercial Cookery at TAFE to follow his true passion. Maxwell started out working in some of Sydney’s finest restaurants (Est., Claude’s and Moon Park) which helped further his love of all things culinary and developed his technical ability to cook. Later, he was lured into the magical world of food publishing where he freelanced for ten years for notable Australian commercial and editorial brands. He has also run his own business where he sells his marinated olives, dressings and sauces at food markets and select retailers. He excitingly joins the Gourmet Traveller team to bring his technical and creative expertise in food to the brand.

Instagram

Styling by Emma Knowles