This broccoli pasta flavoured with sun-dried tomatoes, garlic and chillies, is what you can throw together when there is almost nothing left in the fridge! Simple flavours. Outstanding results!
Serve this beautiful vegetarian pasta with our Caprese Salad or add Chicken Arrabiata for meat lovers.
Do you have a household full of picky eaters? My kids definitely started that way.
It’s a long and tiring road to develop healthy eating habits in your little ones but it does pay off in the end.
Let’s take this broccoli pasta with sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, chillies and Parmesan cheese. It sounds like it’s made for grown ups yet my daughter had seconds and my son had thirds!
Broccoli and Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta
This pasta was inspired by a little side dish I make often. The recipe was given to me by an Italian lady on one of our trips to Italy. It is very simple. Just broccoli sauteed in olive oil with garlic, sun-dried tomatoes and red chillies.
It tastes so wonderfully I thought throwing some pasta and parmesan into the mix made perfect sense and I was right!
It’s so easy to make I am confident even kids can master this quick recipe in no time. Broccoli and sun-dried tomato pasta takes as long to prepare as to boil a pot of pasta!
If you are in the mood for something healthy, lean and nutritious with just a hint of spice, this little number is IT.
Recipe Tips and Notes
- Fill a large pot with already boiling water from a tea kettle. This trick shaves a few minutes off your overall cooking time!
- Cook the pasta and broccoli in the same pot to reduce dishes.
- Multitask by preparing your sauce ingredients while the pasta is cooking.
- Slice garlic instead of chopping or using a garlic press. This way the pasta will have a nice taste of the garlic without absolutely overwhelming it. Mince sun-dried tomatoes for even distribution throughout the pasta.
- Cook both garlic and sun-dried tomatoes in olive oil over the lowest heat to avoid burning them. If you burn either of these ingredients, the dish is ruined as they are the main flavour makers. Burned garlic tastes bitter!
- For more flavour, use some of the oil your sun-dried tomatoes were packed in.
- Reserve pasta water, which will become the liquid in your sauce.
- This pasta is NOT saucy, it is however very flavourful and light! If you prefer more sauce, add 125 ml/1/2 cup of heavy cream. Take a look at my Mediterranean Pasta with Zucchini for exact measurements.
Serving Suggestions
This pasta recipe is vegetarian and I never miss meat when I am eating it. However, if do, I recommend making my Chicken Marsala. It’s a reader favourite, and an easy recipe, which will make you feel like you are eating out in a restaurant.
For veggie enthusiasts, I suggest this delicious and unusual Warm Zucchini Salad with Balsamic Dressing. Or if you want to kick off your dinner the way Italians do, prepare a Trio of Bruschetta appetisers. Healthy, incredibly colourful and so tasty!
Feel free to explore out Italian Recipe Collection for more ideas from Starters to Desserts!
This recipe was originally published in 07/2014. Updated and republished in 04/2021.
More Pasta Recipes with Broccoli and Sun-Dried Tomatoes:
Ingredients
- 1 lbs any short pasta
- salt to taste
- 250 g/8oz broccoli
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 3 tbsp sun-dried tomatoes finely chopped
- ½ tsp chilli flakes
- 3 cloves garlic sliced
- 25g/1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
- 125ml/1/2 cup reserved pasta water
Instructions
- Set a large pot of water on high heat and bring it to a boil, add salt, pasta, and broccoli separated into florets.
- Cook according to package directions, don't overcook, your pasta should be al dente and broccoli tender but still firm. It should take between 7-9 mins.
- While pasta and broccoli are cooking slice the garlic and cook it gently over low heat in a large pan coated with olive oil with chopped sun-dried tomatoes and chilli flakes for 1 minute, stirring constantly to prevent burning. Set aside.
- Drain pasta and broccoli, reserving ½ cup of water from the pasta.
- Add both pasta and broccoli to the pan with sun-dried tomatoes and gently toss together with freshly grated parmesan, add ½ reserved pasta water to loosen the sauce. Taste and add more salt if needed. Serve with additional parmesan cheese.
