Broccoli Pasta

Broccoli Pasta–Seriously, You Want to Make This For Dinner Tonight

I don't know why I feel the need to share my recipes with you, my faithful readers. I think it's because when I find a recipe I LOVE, I want to share it with the world.  Just like Buddy the Elf wants the whole world to know when he's in love, I want the whole world to know all about how when broccoli meets pasta, tastebuds all the world round rejoice.

Let's be honest: this recipe doesn't sound that great on its face. In fact, when my pal Marlena shared it with me, I was all, "Broccoli mashed up with pasta? Eww Gross!" but I was lazy one night and I had extra broccoli and extra pasta so I made the recipe. And magical things happened.

You know how I do: even though the original recipe was delicious on its own (and is actually from a cool article on the one and only Chef Boyardee), I had to give her my own little spin. Plus, I never have fresh broccoli on hand so I had to make it work with my “I only grocery shop once a month” way of life.

Broccoli Pasta

1 box penne (we use barilla plus)

approx 1/2 cup romano or parmesan cheese (or a mix of both)

16 oz bag of frozen broccoli florets

olive oil

1 teaspoon garlic salt (or more if you’re me)

Cheap Romano/Parmesan blend, Penne (what, your kid doesn’t make a game out of stuffing oranges in an empty pasta box?), frozen broccoli florets

In a large saucepan, bring water to a boil. Salt the water pretty generously--unless you have a fear of salt. I, however, am Salt Girl so I load that salt right in. When the water is boiling, add 1 box of penne. Let it boil for a minute or two. Then add the full bag of broccoli. If you're scared, you can add just half the bag the first time. But trust me, the second time you make this (and there will be a second time) you'll want to add the whole bag. Now I realize it seems weird to boil pasta and broccoli together--it goes against everything you believe in, doesn't it? Just go with it. Trust me. You'll have to bring the water to a boil again--let it boil until the pasta is done. Once the pasta is to your liking (al dente if you're us), dump the pasta/broccoli goodness into a colander.

Then transfer to a bowl. Add a nice drizzling of extra virgin olive oil, a sprinkle of garlic salt, and a hefty shaking of Romano or parmesan cheese (we do a mix--yep, we use the cheapo stuff and it's so good...imagine if you're not a cheapskate and you can afford the good cheese! This would be just that more amazing.) With a wooden spoon, mix the pasta for a couple minutes. As you mix it, the broccoli will essentially mush together (appetizing, no?) and will mix with the cheese and oil to create this amazing pesto-like sauce that makes you want to propose marriage to a vegetable. If it seems to dry, drizzle on more EVOO and sprinkle on more cheese. The main thing is to be sure it's "saucy" with the broccoli nice and incorporated. 

Dish 'er up and enjoy.

I make this at least 3 times a month. I can't help myself, you guys. It's cheap, it's delicious, and it'd be healthy if I could keep myself from adding 1/3 of the jar of cheese. Whatever. I beat anorexia. I do what I want. (yay for inappropriate eating disorder jokes!)