Cauliflower Pasta Bake with crispy, crunchy Ritz cracker topping! It's like grown-up mac and cheese. Made with roasted cauliflower, onions, Parmesan, and Gouda. So good!

Photography Credit: Sally Vargas

This is a mac and cheese for grown-ups. It is not the ooey-gooey comfort food of your childhood, but something a little more refined that just so happens to be cheesy and crispy.

For this baked pasta recipe, sweet, roasted cauliflower and onions are paired with salty Parmesan and buttery Gouda and topped with a crispy Ritz cracker crust. It can be served as a simple vegetarian dinner or as a side dish for roast chicken or grilled steak.

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Cut the cauliflower in slices rather than in small pieces. Not only will you save on initial prep time, but you’ll end up with much better caramelization with good crispy bits.

To start, roast the cauliflower and onions together in a hot oven.

While they are busy becoming golden and tender, you have time grate the cheeses and cook the pasta.

There are plenty of pasta shapes to choose from to suit your mood or what is in the cupboard. Ziti, penne rigate, shells, rotini, or my favorite, pipe rigate (little pipes!) are all good choices.

Be sure to cook the pasta until al dente (firm to the bite, not soft) since the pasta will continue to bake in the oven and if cooked until soft first, will become mushy as it bakes.

I recently learned a great trick: Toss hot pasta in Parmesan as soon as you drain it. The hot pasta melts the Parmesan and absorbs all that cheesy goodness.

Toss the cheesy pasta in a baking dish with the roasted vegetables and even more cheese, sprinkle everything with a crispy Ritz cracker topping, and put it all back in the oven to bake until hot.