Make Alison Roman’s caulie pasta

(and keeps on doing so...)

Alison Roman is arguably the coolest person cooking today – and now you can find her favourite recipes in Grazia. This week, an easy but excellent pasta dish

SOMETIMES, THE FOOD

I cook for myself at home (when nobody is watching ) is, well, not very impressive. It can feel too simple, too beige or too boring to ever see the light of day. I lovingly refer to these as ‘personal dinners’.

Dishes like this creamy cauliflower pasta fall into the ‘personal dinner’ category. But after careful consideration, I have decided it’s too wonderful not to publish.

This pasta does not compromise. It’s comfort food, but also vegetables. It’s complex, but quick. Sure, there might be an entire tub of double cream involved – I believe that if you’re going to go for it, you should really go for it – but there’s an entire head of cauliflower, too. There is creamy richness, but there’s also salty crunch (from pecorino breadcrumbs, which are made in the same pan, thankyouverymuch). There’s deep savoury flavour from lightly caramelised shallot, but also a light breeze from lemon zest and chopped chives.

If it wasn’t already obvious, I will come clean now and tell you that, yes, this is essentially a more evolved version of macaroni and cheese but with a high cauliflower content and no scary technique.

This pasta is best eaten straight from the frying pan with one fork, but that directive is negotiable. It is, after all, your personal dinner.