Description
Craving an easy, veggie-packed pasta dish? This recipe for pasta and broccoli is bursting with flavor and ready in under 30 minutes. Perfect for a weeknight dinner! Get serving suggestions and variations to make it vegetarian or a delicious side dish.
Ingredients
Scale
- 2 small heads of broccoli (about 3 cups when cut into florets)
- 6 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 medium-sized onions, diced
- 400g boneless chicken breast (cut into thin slices)
- 450g pasta (elbow macaroni or penne)
- 5 tbsps olive oil
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 2 cups mozzarella cheese (divided)
- salt and pepper to taste
- Grated parmesan cheese for toppings (optional)
Instructions
- Cut broccoli heads into florets and blanch them in hot water. Transfer to a pot of cold or room-temperature water to halt further cooking. Drain and set aside.
- Cook pasta in a pot of water until aldente. Add a teaspoon of salt and a tablespoon of olive oil.
- Drain and set aside. Comfortable with the package directions instead? Feel free, please.
- Using a wooden slotted spoon, sautee garlic and onions in olive oil until fragrant.
- Add sliced chicken breasts and cook while stirring until all the juices from the meat come out and evaporated – do not overdo this as the mixture might become dry.
- Add pre-cooked pasta, cooked broccoli, cream, and mozzarella cheese (leave some for the toppings). Mix until pasta is well coated; it does not hurt to let the broccoli retain its green color. Add pasta cooking water, if you feel that the mixture is dry.
- Season with salt and pepper.
- Transfer onto a baking dish and top with the remaining mozzarella cheese (and parmesan cheese, if using). Your cheesy pasta is a few minutes away.
- Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 325F for 20 minutes. Remove the aluminum foil and broil on low heat for 5 minutes.
- Serve your creamy broccoli pasta and enjoy.