This broccoli and sun-dried tomato pasta is what you can throw together when there is almost nothing left in the fridge!
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. I’ve seen huge improvements in my 10-year old who used to live off yogurt and bananas only.
This pasta dish was inspired by a little side dish I made last week. It tasted so wonderfully I thought throwing some pasta and parmesan into the mix made perfect sense.
Turns out I was right. This pasta dish was light yet flavourful, so much so that my daughter had seconds and my son had thirds! I was pleasantly surprised as I assumed the dish had more of a grown-up taste.
It’s so easy to make I am confident that if I am held up at work Brad will be able to master it with ease!
If you are in the mood for something healthy, lean and nutritious with just a hint of spice, this little number is IT. Broccoli and sun-dried tomato pasta takes as long to prepare as to boil a pot of pasta!
Ingredients
- 1 lbs- any short pasta
- salt
- 1 head- broccoli
- 2 tbsp.-olive oil
- 3 tbsp.- sun-dried tomatoes finely chopped
- 1/2 tsp.- chilli flakes
- 3 cloves- garlic sliced
- 1/4 cup- freshly grated parmesan cheese
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 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 1/2 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 1/2 reserved pasta water to loosen the sauce. Taste and add more salt if needed.
- Serve with additional parmesan cheese.
Sandee says
December 23, 2018 at 12:27 pmLooks and sounds awesome. Can’t wait to make it. The only problem I may have is that it looks like it could be a little dry for me. I had stomach surgery and I must eat everything wet. Any suggestions to add moisture to the recipe?
vikalinka says
December 23, 2018 at 2:41 pmHi Sandee, you can always add a bit of cream to make it saucy.
Wisemommy says
December 8, 2014 at 1:53 pmI love this pasta. Thanks for sharing. I will try it myself.
Wendy says
August 14, 2014 at 3:00 pmThis pasta is my favorire. And my family love these sun-dried tomatoes.
vikalinka says
August 17, 2014 at 10:00 amThank you, Wendy. I hope you enjoy this recipe! 🙂
Geraldine | Green Valley Kitchen says
August 13, 2014 at 11:01 pmThis looks so good. I sometimes have a tough time with sun dried tomatoes but your technique of mincing them up would sort out any issues for me :). Pinning to try soon. Thanks!
vikalinka says
August 17, 2014 at 10:00 amI have the same issue, Geraldine. I don’t like them in big chunks, I find the flavour too strong but when I discovered that Italians often mince them with garlic and chilli flakes I was sold!
cynthia says
July 29, 2014 at 3:59 pmDrooling over this pasta! Cavatappi is one of my favorite pasta shapes ever (so fun to eat!) and what you’ve combined it with sounds so delicious. Perfect weeknight meal 🙂
vikalinka says
August 17, 2014 at 9:58 amI am so with you, Cynthia! I choose my pasta according to its shape, the funner the better. Have you ever had trompetti aka little “trumpets”? Totally adorable!
Jennifer @ Seasons and Suppers says
July 27, 2014 at 3:06 pmLove this! Pasta dishes like this are my favourite dinners. Saving to make very soon 🙂
vikalinka says
August 17, 2014 at 9:56 amThank you, Jennifer. My favourite as well-minimum effort, maximum enjoyment and everyone in the family is happy!
Laura (Tutti Dolci) says
July 26, 2014 at 10:09 pmI could eat this pasta every night of the week, love the sun-dried tomatoes!
vikalinka says
August 17, 2014 at 9:55 amWe probably do eat this pasta every week! lol So easy and so good. I just change up the veg depending on what I have in the fridge. 🙂