Creamy Broccoli Pasta Shells with Lemon & Pecorino
Organic cream is spiked with sun-dried tomato pesto, garlic and broccoli before being tossed through giant pasta shells and topped with salty pecorino cheese – hello pure bliss! I served this pasta with a lemony dressed Radicchio salad.
A note on adding cream to pasta
A little goes a long way when you add a fat, like cream to pasta. With the tendency to make a dish feel ‘heavy’ we are going to balance the creaminess with lots of lemon zest and lemon juice and salty pecorino.
Large pasta shells
Large pasta shells are perfect to fill with the cream and broccoli, I like this one but you can off course use any pasta. Gluten-free rigatoni would work well.
Perfectly cooked pasta
Anyone that have had the pleasure of eating pasta in Italy will know that Italians really mean business when they say ‘al dente’ by cooking their pasta WAY less than anyone else. I try to find a happy middle way by cooking the pasta until it’s soft BUT still has a bite which usually translates to cooking the pasta 3-5 minutes less than the packet instruction.
Seasonal swaps
You can use cauliflower here, although the dish might look a bit white (!) Â as well as broccolini which will cook quicker. Feel free to toss a few baby spinach leaves through at the end.
Flavour additions
I like to add sun-dried tomatoes from a jar for colour and pockets of acidity. I have plenty of basil in my garden at the moment so any excuse I have to get the mortar & pestle out, I make pesto!
Creamy Broccoli Pasta Shells with Lemon & Pecorino
Ingredients
- 300 g conchiglie pasta
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 50 g salted butter
- 3 large garlic cloves minced
- 1/2 teaspoon chilli flakes opt
- 1 tablespoon olive tapenade or sundried tomato pesto
- 300 g broccoli cut into very small florets
- 250 ml single cream
- 1/4 cup pasta water + more
- 1 lemon zest & juice
- 1/2 cup parmesan
- 1/4 cup toasted pine nuts/sunflower seeds
- handful roughly torn basil leaves
- salt & pepper
Instructions
- Cook the pasta in well salted boiling water until al dente (see intro note), drain reserving 1/4 cup and 4 tbsp of the pasta water.
- Meanwhile, heat the butter and olive oil in a medium wide saucepan until foamy, add the garlic, chilli flakes and tapenade/sun-dried tomato pesto and stir until fragrant, about 5 minutes. The chilli flakes might 'spit' - be careful.
- Add the broccoli and mix to coat with the butter mixture, add the cream and 1/4 cup pasta water (keep the extra 4 tbsp aside), stir and bring to a VERY gentle simmer, never boil cream. Cook, covered for 8-10 minutes until the broccoli is tender, still have a bite but not mushy.
- TWO OPTIONS HERE (1) keep the broccoli whole as it is and continue to the next step (5) OR if you feel like having more of a 'sauce' (2) add half the broccoli and cream mixture to a small food processor (or with a hand blender) and blitz until a smoothish sauce forms, add the sauce back into the saucepan.
- Add the drained pasta and reserved 4 tbsp pasta water, toss the pasta to coat with the broccoli mixture. Season with plenty of lemon zest and lemon juice to taste. Season well with salt (if needed) and lots of pepper.
- To serve, add the parmesan (or leave to the side), basil leaves and toasted pine nuts. Drizzle with oil and pop the saucepan to the middle of the table for everyone to help themselves. Enjoy!
