Easy Pesto Broccoli Pasta
Pesto broccoli pasta has that perfect balance of flavour and texture and fits in well with our meatless Monday recipe rotation.
We have a couple of Jamie Oliver cookbooks, and I instantly fell in love with the recipe for pesto broccoli tagliatelle. He has a variation of this recipe on his website that has the same base, but a few additional added ingredients. The recipe we used came from his book Jamie’s Food Revolution which we’ve had in our kitchen for years. I am entirely certain we bought it the same year we moved in together …so like 2011? While this recipe has parmesan in it so it can’t technically be referred to as a vegetarian pasta, it still falls into our approved meatless Monday repertoire. You can make this vegetarian by using vegetarian hard cheese in place of parmesan.
Health Benefits – Broccoli & Pesto
This pesto broccoli pasta has some wholesome benefits to it, plus the added benefit that pasta is good for the soul.
Broccoli is rich in vitamins and minerals such as vitamin A, B6, B12, C, D, E & K, thiamin, calcium, riboflavin, phosphorous, niacin, potassium, zinc and folate. Broccoli is full of sulforaphane which is a natural chemical found in the cruciferous veggie.
Sulforaphane can help with:
One cup of broccoli contains:
It is best to wash your broccoli once you’re ready to prepare it. If you wash it in advance, you risk the vegetable moulding and wilting.
The stalk of the broccoli contains the most fibre, whereas the leaves are highest in cell protecting antioxidents, calcium, as well as vitamins E & K.
Broccoli can be boiled, steamed, roasted, or consumed raw, but boiling removes the most nutrients (up to 90%!) so if looking to cook, steaming or roasting is your best bet. We love to roast broccoli as a side veggie throughout the week.
Pesto Broccoli Pasta Recipe
Bring a large pan of salted water to a boil. I tend to add a little EVOO which helps the past from sticking/clumping. While you wait for the water to boil, wash and peel the potato into thin shavings using a peeler. Slice off the end of the broccoli stalk and cut the florets off of the head and put to one side. Halve the stalk lengthways and slice thinly. Pick your basil leaves, discarding their stalks, and grate your parmesan.
Once the water is boiling, add your pasta and broccoli stalks and cook according to the instructions.
Two minutes before the pasta is cooked, add the broccoli florets and slices of potato.
Drain everything, but hold back a little of the cooking water to the side, and add the pasta back to the pan. Chop half of your basil leaves and add to the pan with the pesto and half of your parmesan.
Mix the pasta and sauce together and if too thick, add a little of the pasta water to thin the sauce out a little bit.
Divide your pasta among bowls, or put the pasta in a serving bowl for family-style serving, and sprinkle over the remaining basil leaves and parmesan.
The longest part of this recipe is waiting for the water to boil!
What makes pesto so special?
Back in season 2 of Seinfeld (1991 whaaaaat?!), George orders pasta with pesto but hates it. He refers to it as the Seattle of pesto. I love Seattle and I love pesto, so while I don’t concur with George, I do get a chuckle every time I think of pesto.
Basil is a stabilizer of blood sugar, and garlic contains an important compound known as allicin. Allicin is known for its antibacterial, anti-viral, anti-fungal, and anti-oxidative properties. Olive oil is very well known for its ability to lower cholesterol levels, and pine nuts add protein and healthy fats. Pine nuts also contain potassium and magnesium (runners, I’m looking at you and your magnesium intake 😉 ) and are important minerals to make sure we’re incorporating into our daily lives.
You can buy pesto at the grocery store to make this super easy, or you can easily make your own. It’s kind of a little bit of this, a little bit of that as I find I don’t make with the same exact measurements each time.
Add the garlic, sea salt, basil and pine nuts to your food processor and add EVOO and pulse together until your desired texture/consistency is achieved. Et voila!
Final Notes
This easy pesto broccoli pasta can also be made in advance if you’re looking for a lighter lunch during the workweek. We had leftovers and I heated up the next day and it was still just as tasty. Just remember to add a little hot water when reheating as to not dry out the noodles. And of course, if you wanted to add meat to up your protein intake, you absolutely do that. Pesto and chicken tend to go really well together.
Looking for other lunch ideas? I have you covered!
Serve with a side salad and/or garlic bread, and you’ve got yourself a quick, wholesome, and tasty weeknight dinner.
This sounds like a great dinner! I love broccoli and pesto AND pasta. Such a warming meal!
So easy and light. Definitely a fave in this household 🙂