Green pesto pasta
This green pesto pasta with tenderstem broccoli recipe was very much a dish created from necessity! With very little in the food cupboards I had some friends and their children round for dinner and wanted to put together something simple, tasty, but that was also making sure the little ones got their greens!
I always find pesto a great way of livening up the simplest of pasta dishes and with only some tenderstem sitting in a rather sparse looking vegetable drawer of the fridge, decided to take a little risk. I don’t know about other people’s children, but I generally do my best to disguise the greens lest they try and pick them out. The thing with green pesto is that the result is an entirely green dish. I know this immediately makes it something of a gamble, at least where my children are concerned. They have a particular aversion to, for instance, Thai green curry, purely because of its colour raising their suspicions. Oddly enough, they don’t have the same issue with green mint choc chip ice cream.
Fortunately, everyone loved this green pesto pasta, including the children. Despite the large amount of pesto, it’s a surprisingly subtle dish and if you make sure the broccoli still has an al dente bite, then it won’t go mushy in the pasta.
This served two adults and three little ones.
Ingredients
- 10½ ounces / 300g penne
- 10½ ounces / 300g tenderstem broccoli
- 4¼ ounces / 120g green pesto
- ¾ ounce / 25g grated parmesan, to serve
Method
Cook the pasta according to packet instructions (making sure that you use sufficient water that you can also add the broccoli).
With four minutes to go of the pasta’s cooking time, add the broccoli.
Once the cooking time is up, drain your pasta/broccoli in a colander.
Return to your saucepan with your pesto on a low heat and stir gently so that everything is fully coated.
Serve with a sprinkle of grated parmesan.
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Print this RecipeTRY CHICKEN AND CHORIZO PENNE PASTA
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