Broccoli Pesto Fettuccine

Share the love :)

It’s Meatless Monday and the story that has led to this week’s recipe.

Most Saturday mornings, Chad wakes up before dawn and goes running with a local group.  I sleep.  Normally I am the one getting up at that crazy hour but Saturdays have become my sleep in day.  A time for me to have the bed all to myself (until the animals realize there is valuable real estate available, still warm from Chad.)  Then I find myself sleeping on Noah’s Ark.  Of course, this never lasts long as by 6am I have three meowing fuzzballs demanding breakfast.  After their feeding,  I do my best to return to a peaceful slumber until Chad returns home with my pasta.

You see, after he runs his seven hundred miles, he always stops by the Winter Park Farmer’s Market.  There is a pasta man there who always has fresh pasta including several Vegan varieties.  Just next to his booth are the Farmers who have the fresh berries and the broccoli or the asparagus we need for a nice meal.  And he brings me coffee.  It’s the only day of the week I drink coffee.  And yes, even at 8am it’s decaf.

This has become a tradition.  To keep it new and exciting I have had to get creative in how to serve the pasta.  You can only make homemade marinara sauce so many times before it gets boring.

This week Chad came home with Sweet Basil Fettuccine and I immediately thought of that simple but powerful recipe I had for pesto.  However, it did occur to me that perhaps basil on basil would just be too much.  He had also brought home broccoli and fresh tomatoes and it occurred to me that a variety of roasted veggies may break up the basilness.  (Yes, it’s a word because I just invented it.)

I made the pesto as I roasted the broccoli and then decided to leave the tomatoes uncooked.  In my mind I was figuring the basil pasta with the basil pesto and the sweet roasted broccoli would be rich enough in flavor without adding caramelized tomatoes.

Continue to Content

Broccoli Pesto Fettuccine

Yield: 4

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Print

Ingredients

• 1 medium-sized head of broccoli- cut into smaller florets
• olive oil
• 12 ounces uncooked basil infused fresh fettuccine,, any type of pasta, flavor or plain would work well too- if using dry uncooked pasta, use approx. 2 oz. per person
• 2 cloves garlic,, minced
• 2 cups fresh basil leaves,, torn
• 3/4 cup shredded or grated Parmesan cheese
• 3/4 cup pine nuts
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 1/2 cups cherry tomatoes,, sliced

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400°. Line a large baking sheet with foil and add the broccoli. Lightly drizzle the broccoli with olive oil. Do your best to separate the broccoli on the baking sheet so that the florets are not touching each other.
2. Roast in the pre-heated oven for approximately 20 minutes, or until the broccoli begins to blacken.
3. In the meantime, make the pesto. Add the garlic, torn basil leaves, Parmesan, pine nuts, salt and pepper to a food processor and pulse until blended, leaving slightly chunky.
4. With the food processor running, slowly drizzle the extra-virgin olive oil into the food chute and continue to blend until completely mixed.
5. Cook the pasta according to package directions and drain.
6. Remove broccoli from the oven. Place about one cup of pasta on each plate. Top with pesto and broccoli. Sprinkle or line plate with sliced cherry tomatoes and serve.

Did you make this recipe?

Share it on Instagram and mention @beautyandthebeets or tag #beautyandthebeets. I would love to see what you made!

In general, this recipe was a hit with Chad and I.  We just can’t go wrong throwing a roasted vegetable on anything.  This was certainly better than plain ol’ pasta and marinara sauce.  The best part is that it was easy and pretty quick to prepare.  The challenge of how to make pasta exciting is endless….how do you jazz up your pasta?