Not in the mood for a saucy pasta? Make a sauceless pasta. Yes, it is a thing. Pasta is a staple in my home but there are times when I really just don’t feel like making sauce..So the trick?
Use really good extra virgin olive oil and combine it with garlic, lemon juice & zest, and season it well. Then add your choice of veggies (roast them for added flavor).
Easiest trick in the book.
Here are a few pointers of making a kick-butt sauceless pasta:
SEASON IT
Salt, course grind black pepper, basil, oregano, parsley, nutritional yeast, and red pepper flakes are my holy grail of flavors for pastas.
COOK AL DENTE
Always boil your pastas al dente, Italian for “to the tooth” (or slightly under cooked). Why? Because sauceless or not, you will end up heating up the pasta anyway, which means it will cook even more. A firmer pasta also uplifts the dish, especially if it is on a lighter side.
SALT YOUR PASTA WATER & DON’T DRAIN IT
Salty like the sea. The proper way to boil your pasta noodles is to boil it in salt water, remove your noodles directly from the water (not drain), and mix it up with the other ingredients when ready. Why? You need the starch water to absorb as much flavor as possible. Reserve about 1/4 cup of pasta water and drizzle on your pasta dish for a finishing touch.
GARLIC & REALLY GOOD OLIVE OIL
Open up the flavors by crushing a few cloves of garlic and heating up in low heat with about 1/3 to 1/2 a cup of extra virgin olive oil. Why? The flavor of garlic is best absorbed when heated up. You don’t exactly want to burn garlic either (it will end up bitter) and olive oil has a very low smoking point, so keep it low and just heat it up until it is fragrant.
Are you team sauceless pasta or do you like it saucy? Give this a try and let me know!
Roasted Cauliflower and Kale Aglio e Olio
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup Olive oil extra virgin
- 6 cloves Garlic crushed
- 1/2 tbsp Red chili flakes or less
- 2 tbsp Parsley chopped
- 1 package Spaghetti noodles
- 1/4 cup Kosher salt for boiling pasta water
- 12 cups Water filtered (for pasta)
- 1 head Cauliflower chopped into florets
- Salt & black pepper to taste
- Handful of baby kale
- 1/2 tbsp lemon zest
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
Instructions
- Bring pasta water to a boil and season with 1/4 cup with kosher salt. Add spaghetti noodles and stir every 2-3 minutes. Cook to al dente (or according to box package). Do not drain the pasta.
- In a separate sauce pan, and in low heat, stir garlic, olive oil, and chili flakes to open up flavor until fragrant. Turn off heat once fragrant to prevent garlic from browning and add the chopped parsley. Give it a stir until well combined.
- Using a tong or a double spatula, remove spaghetti noodles from the pasta water and into the garlic oil mixture. Toss spaghetti noodles until it is fully coated in oil and its herbs and spices.
- Scoop out about 1/3-1/4 cup of pasta water and pour onto the spaghetti. Toss until well combined.
- Add in the roasted cauliflower* and kale to the mix.
- Finish pasta with lemon zest and juice.