8.30.13 Farfalle with Roasted Broccoli, Sundried Tomatoes and Pine Nuts
As I’m sure you can imagine, recovering from an onslaught of delicious state fair food-on-a-stick is more than just a one day process. The cravings for fruits and green vegetables still abound. Which is why I was particularly lucky that I ended up with a TON of broccoli in my CSA share this week. Perfect. Now, what to make with it?
This proved to be more difficult than I thought. Broccoli is delicious, but in our house, it seems that it is always steamed and relegated to side dish status. Or the occasional stir fry. I wanted to try something new, and the first thing that came to mind was roasted broccoli. Success! Delicious on it’s own, I figured it could only be made better by adding it to pasta. Although, it was so tasty, it almost didn’t make it that far. Luckily, I managed some self restraint.
I’m also lucky that my mom, also a foodie, occasionally stocks up on way more delicious ingredients than she can cook, and is nice enough to share them with me. Which is how I ended up with a whole bunch of sundried tomatoes and pine nuts. And I thought to myself, ‘broccoli, tomatoes, pine nuts….hmmm’. And before I knew it, this lovely dish appeared. And was devoured almost as quickly.
Farfalle with Roasted Broccoli, Sundried Tomatoes and Pine Nuts
makes 4 servings
- 1 ½ lbs broccoli, cut up into medium sized florets
- 4 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
- 3 Tbsp olive oil, divided
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp pepper
- ¼ c pine nuts
- 8 oz farfalle pasta
- ½ c grated parmesan cheese
- ¼ c chopped sundried tomatoes
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix broccoli florets, garlic, 2 Tbsp olive oil, salt, and pepper until combined. Spread evenly on a baking sheet and bake until broccoli is roasted and florets are crispy, 20-25 min.
3. After removing the broccoli from the oven, take the roasted garlic cloves from the pan and give them a rough chop.
4. Cook pasta in boiling water until al dente, about 10 minutes. Drain pasta, but reserve 1 cup of the pasta cooking water.
5. Heat a pan over medium heat, then add the pine nuts. Cook, stirring constantly until the pine nuts become browned and fragrant, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
6. In the same pan that you used to toast the pine nuts, heat the remaining 1 Tbsp of olive oil. Add the chopped roasted garlic, and cook for about 1 minute.
7. Add 1 cup of the pasta cooking water to the pan, and continue cooking and stirring for 1-2 minutes. Add the pasta and the parmesan cheese, and stir until cheese melts and forms a creamy sauce that coats the pasta.
8. Add the roasted broccoli, chopped sundried tomatoes, and toasted pine nuts and stir to combine. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve immediately.
