Cauliflower Alfredo

Did I just make pasta with a white sauce? Yes, yes I did. But I’m doing it again because this time, there are vegetables in the white sauce. Cauliflower, to be exact, but I certainly couldn’t tell when eating it. It’s a recipe from The Skinny Fork, though perhaps it’s not what one should eat to be skinny because it still has two kinds of cheese. Still, it feels good to know that my family is getting a vegetable inconspicuously hidden in a white sauce! I thought this was delicious, lovely and creamy and satisfying. The Engineer, however, actually found it too rich for his taste (and I confess I may have used a bit more shredded cheese blend than called for). But you know what? He can have lactose whenever he wants, whereas I can’t, so this white sauce was awesome for me.

FYI, for the cauliflower, I chopped a whole head of it into florets, then steamed them until they were cooked through. I then measured and set aside 2 cups of those for the recipe; I puréed and froze the rest for another use (or to make this again, who knows?).

2 cups cooked cauliflower
1 ¼ cup lactose-free milk
3 oz. lactose-free cream cheese
1 Tbsp. flour
1 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. margarine
3 garlic cloves, minced or grated
1 cup lactose-free cheese blend (I used Daiya’s mozzarella blend), shredded
16 oz. pasta of your choice

Place the cauliflower, milk, cream cheese, flour and salt into a blender or food processor and blend until smooth.

In a large sauce pan, melt the butter over medium-high heat and add in the garlic. Sauté for a few seconds, being careful not to burn.

Add the cauliflower mixture to the pan and cook, stirring constantly for 3-4 minutes or until it begins to come to a simmer. Continue to stir, cooking for a few more minutes to allow the sauce to thicken.

Once thickened, remove the pan from the heat and add in the cheese. Stir and cover immediately. Let the sauce stand for 10 minutes before using. The sauce will continue to thicken while it sits.

Meanwhile, boil the pasta according to package directions. When the sauce is ready, simply stir it into the drained pasta and serve, ideally with cracked black pepper.