Tahini Pasta With Cauliflower and Capers

Tahini pasta in a bowl on a board next to lemons, parsley, and a napkin.

Drenched in a vegan tahini pasta sauce with lemon and garlic, this easy recipe is full of flavor.

Course Dinner, Main Course

Cuisine American

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 30

Total Time 50

Servings 1.5-cup servings

Calories 589kcal

Author Lizzie Streit, MS, RDN

Ingredients

1 small head cauliflower cut into bite-sized florets, about 3 cups
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Salt to taste
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
8 ounces penne pasta or ridged pasta of choice
1 tablespoon capers
1 cup reserved pasta water

Tahini sauce

½ cup tahini
2 tablespoons lemon juice from about ½ lemon
2 cloves garlic minced
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley plus more for serving if desired
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
3 to 4 tablespoons ice cold water

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F/218 degrees C.
Toss cauliflower florets with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Spread out in a single layer on the baking sheet.
Roast for 20 to 25 minutes until the cauliflower is browned to your liking. Stir halfway through to promote even browning. Remove from the oven and set aside.
While the cauliflower roasts, bring a pot of generously salted water to a boil. Cook the pasta according to package directions until al dente. Before draining, reserve a cup of pasta cooking water for loosening up the sauce.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the tahini, lemon juice, garlic, parsley, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. It will be very stiff. Slowly pour ice cold water into the sauce in small amounts, whisking vigorously as you go, until smooth and pourable. The cold water helps stabilize the fat in the tahini so that it can trap air and get fluffy. You can also use a food processor to blend the sauce ingredients to replace the manual whisking.
Add the drained pasta, roasted cauliflower, and capers to a large bowl.
Pour the sauce over the pasta mixture. The heat from the pasta will cause it to stiffen. Add the reserved pasta water, a small amount at a time, to loosen up the sauce and allow it to stick to the pasta. Stir until the pasta is coated and the sauce is luscious and smooth.
Serve warm with a sprinkle of extra parsley if desired.
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Notes

Storage: This dish is best served right away, but you can keep leftovers in the fridge in an airtight container for 3 to 4 days.
Reheating: Leftovers are best enjoyed cold, since reheating can cause the pasta to get mushy and the sauce to get gritty. If you do want to warm up the leftovers, reheat in a skillet or in the microwave with a drizzle of oil and splashes of water as needed to thin the sauce.
Tahini: Use a creamy, runny tahini for best results, such as well-stirred Soom Tahini or Mighty Sesame Co. squeezable tahini.
Warm vs. cold water: It's OK to add warm pasta water to loosen up the sauce so it coats the pasta but only because the sauce is first made with cold water, which helps prevent separation and grittiness that might happen if you only used warm/pasta water.

Nutrition