Broccoli Pesto and Pea Pasta Bake

This Week

2 Dec - 8 Dec

Broccoli Pesto and Pea Pasta Bake

Pasta bakes are the ultimate comfort food but we’ve found a way to sneak in some extra greens. This creamy pesto sauce is packed full of flavour and nutrients as it’s made with a broccoli basil pesto and topped with breadcrumbs (of course). We think you’ll love this one.

Add to your favourites

Meal Prep Guide

Cut one head of broccoli into small florets – store in an airtight container in the fridge.

Make the pesto

Ingredients:

3 large handfuls of basil (2-3 cups)
¼ cup of toasted pine nuts
½ cup of parmesan (grated)
1 small clove of garlic
Juice of one lemon
⅓ cup of olive oil
Pinch of salt and pepper

Method:

Combine the lemon juice, olive oil, basil and garlic into a blender or food processor and blend for a few seconds until combined. Add the pine nuts, parmesan and a pinch of salt and pepper and blend for a few more seconds until a desired consistency. We like ours so it’s still got a bit of texture to it.
‍
Transfer into a glass jar or airtight container and store in the fridge. ‍

Tips

‍Tips

You can make our homemade Basil Pesto or use store bought – we like the Genoese brand as it’s made with olive oil and not vegetable oil.
‍
If you don’t have a blender or nutribullet you can blend the broccoli and pesto together with a stick blender.

Shortcuts

Vegetables

You could add some baby spinach to the pasta bake to add in some extra greens – add this when you’re tossing the pasta through the sauce.

Other

Swap out the pasta for gluten-free pasta.

Ingredients

350g rigatoni pasta
1-2 Tbsp olive oil
1 onion
2 garlic cloves
1 head of broccoli (cut into small florets)
250g pesto
1 lemon (zest and juice)
Salt and pepper
½ cup of peas
1 cup of breadcrumbs
1 Tbsp butter or olive oil
⅓ cup of grated parmesan cheese

Side salad

1 bag of rocket or baby spinach
½ cucumber (sliced into half moons)
2 handfuls of cherry tomatoes (cut in half)
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tsp dijon mustard
1 tsp honey
Salt and pepper

Method

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees fan bake.
Add olive oil to a large pan over a medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook for 3-5 minutes or so until starting to soften.
Add the broccoli florets and a little more olive oil and cook for 5 minutes until the broccoli is also starting to soften. Add ¼ cup of water and pop a lid on the pan. Cook for a couple of minutes until the water has evaporated and the broccoli has cooked through – you want a fork to be able to pierce through it easily.
Add the broccoli, onion mixture to a blender with the juice and zest of one lemon, the pesto and a pinch of salt and pepper. Blend until smooth and creamy.
Set aside and cook the pasta as per packet instructions. When the pasta only has 2-3 minutes left add ½ cup of frozen peas.
In the meantime use the same pan that you cooked the onions and broccoli in to toast the bread crumbs in butter or olive oil until golden brown.
Drain the pasta and the peas and add back into the pasta pot with the broccoli, pesto sauce. Mix well to make sure that all of the pasta is coated in the sauce.
Add the pasta to an ovenproof dish and top with the breadcrumbs and grated parmesan cheese.
‍
Pop in the oven to cook for 20 minutes.
While the pasta bake is cooking, prepare your side salad. In a large salad bowl add the olive oil, red wine vinegar, mustard and honey whisk together to form the salad dressing and then toss through the rocket, cherry tomatoes and cucumber making sure everything is coated in the dressing.