Broccoli, leek and parmesan pasta
Broccoli. Leek. Humble and homely. You know what elevates humble and homely? Parmesan, of course.
Bzzz. Mix into pasta. Dinner is done. Ok, so it doesn’t look very appetizing, but if you’re a broccoli fan the smell of the broccoli steaming will make looks irrelevant!
Keep the broccoli perfectly cooked, and you’ll have a subtly rich pasta coated in a chunky sauce with the nuttiness of broccoli and the salty tang of the king of cheeses. Cook that broccoli to death, and you’ll have a silkier sauce. Either way, both your tastebuds and your body will love you. Unless you hate broccoli. In that case you might want to use a different vegetable. EDIT: I tried this peas and broccoli, minus the leeks and with a little garlic instead. Also yum – use any other greens you have. Also, topping with poached/soft boiled eggs and truffle salt? YES. Totally yes. Maybe a little more yes.
Broccoli and parmesan pasta
serves two
adapted from The New Zealand Vegetable Cookbook
- cooked pasta for two
- one head of broccoli (medium-large)
- half a large leek (I used the white part but the green part is ok too)
- about half a cup of finely grated parmigiano, or a parmesan you like
- half a lemon, juice and zest
- salt & pepper to taste
- extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling, cooking oil for cooking
- optional: butter, for extra richness, or crumbled creamy feta for sprinkling on top. Or toasted pine nuts.
Two Spoons 
:-) my kind of meal! I am curious about adding lemon to it, must try and see, I make lots of pasta with broccoli and it is nice to try different way. And then I always have lemons kicking around.
Ciao
A.
I’ve made broccoli ‘sauce’ with pasta a few times now, but have never been tempted to blog about it. Mainly because although it always taste sooo good, it never looks good. However yours looks much nicer than the ones I make! So fresh and green…
Ale: I always thought lemon and broccoli was a bit weird but it doesn’t go so far as to make this sour, just adds a nice refreshing note. Lemons have also become a necessity in my kitchen, a bit like salt!
All: Haha, to be honest it could probably look much greener. I didn’t cook it too long and I think that always helps. Could have been greener if I’d used the green part of the leek and saved the broccoli stalk for a stir fry, or whizzed a bit of spinach in there, but oh well.
Sounds like the perfect winter pasta with lashings of parmesan, yum.
A: Yes, I’m already thinking of twists on this, like pumpkin instead of broccoli and with brown butter crispy sage leaves on top. Mm.
Delicious – brocolli’s nutty flavour just isn’t played up enough when it’s boiled and plonked on the side of your plate.
Simply wonderful. I can almost smell it. The cheese and the veggie.
H: I know! No wonder so many people dislike it.
R: Even before adding the cheese I was all swoony from the smell of the broccoli steaming.