Cheesefare Meals

Last Sunday was our farewell to meat. My family celebrated our annual "Meat Fare Meat Fest" with some friends on Sunday evening. Now that we've said goodbye to meat, I'm gearing up for Cheesefare! I typically try to do a weekly rotating menu during Lent, mostly so that I can have one less thing to think about, and we can concentrate on getting to the weekly services. I'll share our Lenten weekly menu next week, but I thought I'd share one of our favorite Cheesefare week meals. Besides this meal, we also try to do grilled vegetables with goat cheese one night, and this Saturday we're going to eat at the Che*secake Factory for lunch! Now, here's the recipe for our favorite cheesy meal. (I love it because it gets my kids to eat some veggies without complaining!)

Cauliflower-Feta Pasta Bake

1 head cauliflower, cut into small florets
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper
1 pound ziti pasta
One 14.5-ounce can fire-roasted crushed tomatoes
8 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
2 cups pitted kalamata olives, drained and chopped
3/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
1/2 cup breadcrumbs

1. Preheat the oven to 425. On a rimmed baking sheet, toss the cauliflower with 1/4 cup olive and season with salt and pepper. Roast, stirring halfway through until browned, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from oven. Lower temp. to 350.
2. Meanwhile, in a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook ziti until al dente. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup of the cooking water. Return pasta and cooking water to pot and stir in crushed tomatoes, feta, olives, and remaining 1/4 cup of olive oil and half each of the parsley and breadcrumbs.
3. Pour the mixture into a 2-quart baking dish; top with the roasted cauliflower and remaining breadcrumbs. Bake until heated through, about 10 minutes. Sprinkle the remaining parsley on top.