Air Fryer Cauliflower Pasta: Crispy with with Speck and No Breading

Air Fryer Cauliflower Pasta with and Speck a tasty and simple dish to prepare; ideal to serve as a main course or for Sunday lunch,
To prepare this tasty recipe I used Rummo’s Mezzi Rigatoni gluten-free pasta but penne rigate or orecchiette, gluten-free if you have celiac disease, are also fine. You can safely bake it in the oven at 200°C (400°F) for 25 to 30 minutes and you cansubstitute the cauliflower with broccoli.
To season the pasta I added what I had in the fridge such as stracchino cheese, speck , prosciutto cotto and scamorza cheese but you can safely substitute the cold cuts for the sauce or just cauliflower.

Ingredients :

• 1 cauliflower, cut into florets
• 250 g (9 oz) gluten-free mezzi rigatoni (such as Rummo Gluten-Free Mezzi Rigatoni No. 51)
• 100 g (3.5 oz) stracchino cheese (or substitute with creamy cheese like brie or camembert)
• 2 slices cooked ham, chopped
• 100 g (3.5 oz) diced speck (or substitute with smoked bacon)
• 250 g (9 oz) scamorza cheese, diced or shredded
• 30 g (2 tbsp) butter
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• Gluten-free breadcrumbs, as needed

How to make Air Fryer Cauliflower Pasta:

1. Clean the cauliflower and separate it into florets. Boil the florets in water for 15 minutes.
2. In the same pot of boiling water, add the rigatoni pasta and salt. Cook for 6 minutes.
3. Drain the pasta and cauliflower together. Season with a drizzle of oil and pepper.
4. Add the chopped speck (or cooked ham) and stracchino cheese. Mix well.
5. Oil a baking dish and dust it with breadcrumbs. Pour in a first layer of the pasta mixture.
6. Add diced scamorza cheese and grated cheese on top of this layer.
7. Top with the remaining pasta mixture, more scamorza, and finally a sprinkling of grated cheese.
8. Drizzle a little milk around the edges of the dish.

For air fryer cooking:

1. Bake at 185°C (360°F) for 15 minutes, covered with foil.
2. Remove the foil, add butter flakes on top, and continue cooking at 200°C (400°F) for 5 to 7 minutes.

For oven cooking:

1. Bake at 180°C (350°F) covered for 20 minutes.
2. Uncover and bake at 200°C (400°F) for another 10 minutes, or about 25 minutes total.
3. The dish should turn out golden brown with a light crust.

Serve immediately. Bon Appétit!