This Broccoli Pesto Pasta is All About Balance
Is pesto the world's most perfect pasta sauce? Maybe! That sharp, spicy kick of garlic, salty Parmigiano-Reggiano, fragrant fresh basil and good olive oil—basically pesto is a perfect thing. The only downside is that we feel just a teensy, tiny bit guilty when we sit down to a big bowl of pasta slicked only with basil pesto. Our mom’s voice rings in our ears as we go in for that first herby bite—”where are the veggies?!” Ugh. And of course, mom’s always right.
This broccoli pesto recipe offers up a delicious solution—broccoli florets that are whizzed right into the pesto sauce itself, adding an even more vibrant punch of emerald green to the sauce as well as a serious nutritional boost. In addition to being a great source of fiber, this dark green member of the brassica family boasts lots of vitamin C and vitamin A, as well as some iron, calcium and potassium. Blended into a classic pesto along with some of the pasta cooking water, broccoli gives this pesto sauce just a bit of creaminess and a lot more oomph.
What’s In Broccoli Pesto (Besides Broccoli)?
Basically, this is a basil pesto recipe, plus broccoli. It really is as basic as:
Broccoli florets
Fresh basil
Fresh garlic
Pine nuts
Extra virgin olive oil
Parmigiano-Reggiano
And one secret ingredient: reserved pasta cooking water
Why Adding Pasta Water to Sauce is so Magical.
If you’re not already using your pasta cooking water in pasta sauce, now’s the time to start. The water that you boil your pasta in should be generously salted (some chefs say it should “have the salinity of the sea”), and once you’ve cooked your pasta to a perfect al dente doneness, the water will have become rather starchy. That starchiness? That’s a great, great thing. So, instead of draining your cooked pasta through a colander and losing all of that pasta water, just lift the finished pasta out with a slotted spoon and save that water to use in your pasta sauce. The starchy, seasoned water emulsifies with whatever fat your pasta sauce may have—in the case of this broccoli pesto, with the olive oil and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese—and makes the sauce creamy (without any actual cream). See? Magic.
How To Make Perfect Broccoli Pesto Pasta
This broccoli pesto pasta recipe is a thing of logistical beauty. A stock pot of boiling water does double-duty (we love that kind of efficiency, don’t you?) and simple ingredients come together to make a healthy, satisfying supper everyone can feel good about. Oh yeah, that’s the stuff. Here’s how to make this easy, healthy pasta recipe:
Prep all of your broccoli pesto ingredients—rinse the basil leaves, grate your Parmigiano, peel your garlic.
Bring a big pot of salted water to a boil.
Boil the broccoli. After two minutes, remove the florets, and add your pasta.
While the pasta cooks, make the pesto! Blend the broccoli, basil, garlic, pine nuts, extra virgin olive oil, salt and parmigiano reggiano until it’s nice and smooth.
When the pasta is done, scoop out a cup of that liquid gold (aka pasta water) and add it slowly to the pesto as you blend it a bit more.
Toss the pasta with the broccoli pesto and dig in!
Tools You’ll Need:
3 More Perfect Pesto Recipes
Boil pasta, toss with pesto—dinner is served. These pesto recipes are on pretty constant rotation in our homes. Give them a spin!
Healthy, Quick, Basic and Easy to Love.
This is the kind of recipe we’re leaning hard on right now. Pasta—everyone loves it. Cheese, garlic, olive oil—also things that everyone loves. Broccoli to make us feel good about ourselves. And best of all, it’s ready in about 15 minutes. If you make this broccoli pesto pasta, we’d love to hear about it! Snap a photo of your finished pasta and tag us on Instagram using @themodernproper and #themodernproper so we can see. Happy eating!
