What we love about this creamy broccoli pasta
- This recipe is a breeze to pull together. Anytime we can have a meal on the table in under 20 minutes that’s a win to us! It’s a great meal to serve on a busy weeknight, or when you just don’t feel like going all out.
- This pasta is so satisfying, it’s tasty and filling, plus you get all the wonderful nutrients broccoli has to offer. It’s one easy way to get the kids, or adults, to eat their broccoli.
Here’s what you’ll need to make it
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- Orecchiette
- Broccoli – We used fresh broccoli florets about 2 small heads of broccoli for this recipe.
- Cream – This adds creaminess, obviously, but it also is necessary for the sauce to be as thick and luxurious as we wanted it to be for this recipe. If you want to use something like a half and half, make sure to add a thickener such as a couple tablespoons of flour or a tablespoon of cornstarch.
- Pecorino romano cheese – You can use parmesan cheese here if you prefer – they are mostly interchangeable even though they have different flavors, but our go to for pasta is pecorino romano.
Making changes to a recipe can result in recipe failure. Any substitutions listed below are simple changes that I believe will work in this recipe, but results are not guaranteed.
How to make this creamy broccoli pasta
Cook the pasta. In a large pot of salted water, cook the pasta according to package directions for al denté. Reserve ½ cup of pasta water, drain and set aside. You can drizzle a tiny bit of olive oil over the pasta to prevent it from sticking if you are not finished with making your sauce.
Chop and steam the broccoli. Divide the broccoli florets – 2 cups to steam and 2 cups to chop. Steam 2 cups of broccoli, we did our in the microwave but you can also steam in a skillet or in a steamer basket on the stove. Finely chop the remaining broccoli and set aside for the sauce.
Make the sauce. Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat, adding the garlic to simmer when it is melted through. When the garlic is aromatic stir in the chopped broccoli and simmer until the broccoli is tender. Sprinkle flour over broccoli and garlic, then stir in cream and salt. When this is heated through, remove from heat and stir in pecorino romano cheese until well combined. Removing the sauce from the heat when adding the pecorino romano will help prevent clumping of the sauce.
Bring it all together. When sauce has thickened, stir in pasta and steamed broccoli florets until well coated in sauce. This is when you will add the reserved pasta water, a few tablespoons at a time until you reach your desired consistency. We used the entire ½ cup we had reserved for this recipe.
How do you make pasta stay creamy? Our number one go to solution for keeping pasta creamy is pasta water. This stuff is the key to a successful pasta, even if it doesn’t contain a cream. We love pasta water so much we wrote a whole blog post on it. If you have more questions about it, head over and read up on the magic it can create.
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Creamy Broccoli Pasta
Ingredients
- 16 ounces orecchiette
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 4 garlic cloves (minced)
- 4 cups broccoli (divided)
- 1 tablespoon flour
- 1 ½ cup cream
- ½ teaspoon coarse salt
- ⅓ cup pecorino romano cheese
- ½ cup pasta water (reserved (this is important for the sauce))
Instructions
- Cook pasta, according to package directions for al denté. Reserve 1/2 cup of pasta water, drain and set aside.
- Divide broccoli into two 2 cup servings. Steam 2 cups of broccoli and set aside. Finely chop remaining broccoli and set aside for sauce.
- Heat butter over medium heat, add garlic and sauté until aromatic. Add chopped broccoli and continue to cook until broccoli is tender.
- Sprinkle flour over broccoli and stir until well distributed.
- Whisk in heavy cream and salt, cooking until thickened.
- Remove from heat before stirring in pecorino romano cheese, to avoid clumping.
- Add pasta and broccoli back to the pot and stir until well coated.
- Add pasta water as needed, stirring until sauce has reached desired consistency.
Nutrition
