This Creamy Lemon Broccoli Pasta takes broccoli that’s sautéed until tender, topped with a creamy lemon sauce, and sprinkled with parmesan cheese.
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This Creamy Lemon Broccoli Pasta combines some of my very favorite things. Broccoli, pasta, lemon, and cheese. There’s almost nothing I like more than pasta and when you add vegetables you can pretend that it’s healthy!
This pasta does have a few moving parts, but everything cooks at pretty much the same time, so that if you time it right, everything comes together in about 20 minutes. And if timing is something you struggle with, you can make the pasta ahead of time, and then you only have to concentrate on two of the three facets of the dish. Don’t worry – the pasta gets rewarmed in the sauce when it’s done, so everything will still be nice and warm and delicious.
Some other delicious pasta recipes!
Recipe Notes
As it is, this recipe is vegetarian, but if you wanted to add sauteed chicken or shrimp, that would be absolutely delicious.
You could also sub different veggies. Asparagus would be amazing. Cauliflower would be great. Artichoke hearts would be so, so good.
Ingredient List
- Pasta (fun shapes of pasta strongly encouraged)
- Olive oil
- Broccoli
- Butter
- Garlic
- All-purpose flour
- Milk or half and half
- Lemon
- Parmesan cheese
- Salt and pepper
- Red pepper flakes
PRO TIP: If you want to make this recipe a little easier timing wise, cook the pasta first and let it rest in the colander while you make the broccoli and sauce.
Tips and Tricks
- Most recipes that have a separate sauce advise you to undercook the pasta. Don’t do that here. You’re not actually finishing the pasta in the sauce, you’re just re-warming it through for about a minute, which wont be enough to really cook the pasta any more.
- The sauce can easily be doubled for a larger crowd or leftovers.
- Using a grill press is the best way to get the broccoli nice and crispy and caramelized. If you don’t have one, you can place another pan on top of the broccoli while it cooks. You just want as much of the broccoli as possible making contact with the hot pan.
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What kind of pasta should I use?
I would recommend any sort of short, tubed pasta – I used cavatappi, but you could use penne, rigatoni, or even a fusilli. You just want a lot of little nooks and crannies that the sauce can work it’s way into.
I don’t love lemon, do I have to use it?
First off, if you don’t like lemon, I’m not 100% sure that we can be friends. However, you can definitely leave the lemon out of the sauce and make it more of an alfredo or cream sauce. I do think that without the brightness of the lemon, it’s VERY heavy, so if you skip the lemon, I would stir a little bit of red or white wine vinegar into the finished dish.
Is there a way to make this recipe simpler?
Absolutely. I pan sauté the broccoli, because I love that caramelized flavor but you could make the broccoli in whatever way is your favorite, whether that’s steamed, sautéed, or roasted.
How can I store leftover lemon broccoli pasta?
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for about a day. After that, the broccoli will start to get a little funky.
What kind of milk should I use?
I used whole milk to make this, but you could also use half and half or heavy cream. The heavier the dairy, thicker the sauce. I like the compromise between calories and flavor that whole milk provides.
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Creamy Lemon Broccoli Pasta
Ingredients
Creamy Lemon Broccoli Pasta - Pasta
- 8 ounces pasta
Creamy Lemon Broccoli Pasta - Broccoli
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 medium head of broccoli, chopped small about 2 cups
Creamy Lemon Broccoli Pasta - Sauce
- 1 tablespoon of butter
- 1 tablespoon all purpose flour
- 1 clove of garlic minced small
- 1 cup milk or half and half
- ½ teaspoon of lemon zest or to taste
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice or to taste
- ¼ cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
- salt and pepper
- crushed red pepper flakes optional
Instructions
Creamy Lemon Broccoli Pasta - Pasta
- Cook pasta in salted water according to manufacturer's' directions and leave in the colander while you make the rest of the meal.
Creamy Lemon Broccoli Pasta - Broccoli
- Heat a 10 or 12 inch non-stick skillet over medium high heat, add the oil, and then add the chopped broccoli (you want the broccoli chopped pretty small in order to let it cook through quickly).
- Sautee the broccoli for about 3 minutes, then place a grill press (or another, heavy pan) over the broccoli and let it sit for 3 minutes. Remove the press or pan, stir the broccoli and repeat 2-3 more times until broccoli is browned, caramelized, and cooked through.
- If the broccoli starts burning before it browns and cooks, lower the heat.
Creamy Lemon Broccoli Pasta - Sauce
- In a medium skillet, melt the butter over medium heat and add the garlic.
- Once the butter melts fully, add the flour and stir it together to form a paste. Let this cook for full minute to get rid of any raw flour flavor.
- Add the milk or half and half slowly, whisking constantly as you add it.
- Once all the milk has been added, reduce the heat to medium low and let the sauce cook and begin to thicken, about 2 minutes.
- Once the sauce starts to thicken, add the lemon juice and zest, salt and pepper and crushed red pepper.
- Stir in the parmesan cheese and stir until the sauce is smooth.
- Add the cooked broccoli and pasta to the sauce, and stir to combine everything together and to warm the pasta through.
- Serve with more parmesan cheese, and slices of lemon.
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