Broccoli Parmesan Pasta
I love a good old fashioned healthy pasta dinner. This fits the bill in a few departments for ease, time, flavor, and ingredients. Even my young kids gobbled this up and I was so happy to have them enjoy a pasta that was loaded with broccoli. Because this was a simple vegetarian meal I opted for chickpea noodle pasta to up the protein. The texture is great and my kids and husband can’t tell the difference between regular pasta and chickpea pasta. It’s worth a try!
We’re harvesting broccoli at our farm right now and I wanted to make something simple for dinner tonight so this was the result. I hope you enjoy this tasty meal as much as my family did.
Broccoli Parmesan Pasta
Prep Time: 15 minutes Cook Time: 20 minutes Serves: 4
- 1 pound broccoli, cut into small florets
- 10 ounces pasta (we like the chickpea noodle pasta)
- 1/4 cup olive oil, divided
- 4 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
- zest of 1/2 of a lemon
- fresh cracked black pepper
Preparation
- Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil. Add the broccoli and cook for 1 minute. Turn down the heat and use a slotted spoon to to remove the broccoli to a colander to drain. Bring the water back up to a boil and add the pasta. Cook until al dente. Drain the pasta reserving 1 cup of the cooking liquid.
- When the pasta has about 5 minutes left of cooking heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add 2 Tablespoons of the olive oil along with the garlic, broccoli, salt and red pepper flakes. Cook until the garlic is softened and the broccoli is very tender, about 5 minutes. Add the pasta to the pan along with the remaining 2 Tablespoons of olive oil, 1/2 cup of the reserved pasta water. Cook, stirring everything together. Add more pasta water if needed. Sprinkle in the parmesan cheese, lemon zest and black pepper. Serve
Notes
Use this recipe as a guide and adjust measurements and ingredients as necessary