White Bacon and Cauliflower Pasta

A simple and flavourful Italian pasta dish made with crispy bacon and leftover cauliflower. This rustic recipe is perfect for turning Sunday leftovers into a quick and satisfying meal, using snapped linguine for a unique texture.

Servings

2 people

Prep Time

15 minutes

Difficulty

Easy

Ingredients

  • 210 g Linguini Pasta
  • 200 g bacon
  • 8 cauliflower florets (or ½ medium cauliflower, pre-cooked)
  • 1 garlic clove
  • 1 chilli
  • 10 g Grana Padano
  • Extra virgin olive oil
  • Salt & black pepper

Equipment you’ll need

Method

  1. Bring a pot of salted water to the boil.
  2. Cut the bacon into small pieces (about 2 cm), removing any tough rind.
  3. Heat olive oil in a wok pan and add a crushed garlic clove. Remove once golden and set aside.
  4. In the same pan, cook the bacon until crispy, then remove and set aside with the garlic.
  5. Add the cooked cauliflower to the pan and mash it with a fork until creamy and smooth.
  6. Return the bacon and garlic to the pan and mix well. Set aside.
  7. Snap the linguine into shorter pieces (see video for technique) and cook for about ⅔ of the time indicated on the package.
  8. Reserve some pasta water, drain the pasta, and transfer it to the pan.
  9. Finish cooking the pasta in the sauce, adding a little pasta water if needed.
  10. Serve with a drizzle of olive oil and grated Grana Padano.

Tips

Save the cauliflower cooking water to cook the pasta for extra flavour.

Remove garlic once golden and re-add later to keep it sweet and not bitter.

Variation

Add cherry tomatoes for colour and freshness

Finish with chopped parsley

Can use Spaghetti

Storage

Best eaten immediately — this dish does not store well; Cauliflower leftover from previous day.

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