Sun Dried Tomato Pesto Roasted Cauliflower

First, I want to wish my husband a very Happy Birthday today. The poor guy is exhausted  after being in London and Amsterdam this past week and only just came home last night around 2am. Luckily, he took the day off to catch up on some sleep. We don't have much planned for a celebration tonight since my older daughter has a football game tonight (don't worry, she's not a linebacker, she's a cheerleader for my new friends reading this). But I do have to cook. Each week, our Booster Club makes dinner for the girls before each game and there are 20 of them...who, as I'm told, LOVE to eat! When they found out it was going to be my turn about a month ago, they all decided that they wanted me to make them the Asian Chicken Wings and Fried Rice. So as I'm typing this, I have 10 lbs. of wings soaking in the marinade, ready to cook later and bring to her school later today. As for my husband's dinner, he wants me to make him a huge pot of sauce with bracciole and sausage on Sunday so we'll have his birthday celebration then. :)


Now, onto food... That pesto I purchased the other day only contained about 3/4 cup in the jar, so I had 1/4 cup of it left after I made the Turkey Stuffed with Sun Dried Tomato Pesto & Asiago Cheese. I decided to make this with the turkey to complement the flavors for that evening's dinner and I'm embarrassed to admit that up until about 4 years ago, I never would touch the stuff. As a kid, if the vegetable wasn't frozen, we didn't eat it. I'm so glad my Mother's food palette expanded over the years and now she's an incredible cook and loves to try new things all the time. There is something about roasting fresh cauliflower that brings out such a great flavor and no matter what I seem to add to the mix, it just keeps tasting better and better. 


I also happened to pick up the most recent copy of Real Simple magazine the other day(I don't subscribe to any magazines, can't stand the clutter...told you I'm a little OCD) and cut out an article they had on cauliflower that I thought might be useful to someone. So, since I'm actually posting about it this week, here is what Emily McKenna had to say. 


How to Choose
Look for cauliflower with compact, creamy white florets and crisp bright green leaves. An old cauliflower will have a yellowish tinge and tiny black mold spots on the surface. 


How to Store
Refrigerate cauliflower unwashed and tightly wrapped in plastic for up to 5 days. 


How to Prepare
Remove the hard core by breaking of the leaves, turning the cauliflower upside down and cutting around the core with a small, sharp knife. Cut the rest of the cauliflower into similar sized florets so that they cook at the same rate. 

Sun Dried Tomato Pesto Roasted Cauliflower
1 Head Cauliflower, core removed and florets cut and rinsed under cold water
1/4 c. Giada  De Laurentiis Sun Dried Tomato Pesto
1/4 c. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 Cloves Garlic
1/4 c. Pecorino Romano Cheese, grated
1/4 c. Low-Sodium Chicken Broth


Add all ingredients in to a bowl and mix well until all of the cauliflower has been coated. Place in a 9"x9" baking dish and bake at 350°F for 1 hour, turning occasionally. Then, place under the broiler for 5-10 minutes until they turn golden brown. Serves 4. 


Enjoy!