Pine Nut Broccoli Pasta
A crispy butter balsamic pasta dish featuring pine nuts and broccoli. It's a simple recipe but it's warm and comforting, a perfect end for the day.
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 16 oz rotini pasta or your favorite short noodles
- 1 ½ cups broccoli chopped into small pieces, or use frozen
- 2 oz pine nuts about 2 ⅓ cups
- ⅓ cup balsamic vinegar
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 cup chicken or vegetable stock
- ½ teaspoon table salt plus more to taste
- 3 tablespoon butter
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 ½ cups shredded parmesan divided
Instructions
- Set oven to 425°F
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil, add kosher salt, then cook pasta to al dente, according to the directions on your pasta.
- During the last 2 minutes of cooking, add the broccoli to the pot.
- Drain pasta and broccoli, pour back into the large pot and mix in the butter.
- Meanwhile, heat a small saucepan over low heat.
- Add pine nuts, then continue heating until lightly brown and they give off a nice nutty aroma, ~5 minutes. Be sure to frequently shake the pan during this process.
- Set pine nuts aside, then pour balsamic vinegar into the saucepan.
- Turn the heat up to medium until the vinegar begins to simmer, then reduce the heat to just high enough to maintain a very light simmer.
- Cook down the balsamic vinegar until about 3 tablespoon remains, then pour it into the pot with your drained pasta, mixing to combine.
- Pour olive oil into the saucepan and place it on the stove over low heat.
- Add the garlic and cook, stirring frequently for 1 minute.
- Add stock to the pot, then bring to a boil.
- Reduce to a simmer and cook for ~5 minutes.
- Season the stock with salt and pepper, then pour it over the pasta.
- Into the pasta pot add pine nuts and half of the parmesan, then stir to combine.
- Lightly oil or spray a 9x13 inch baking dish.
- Distribute pasta evenly into the baking dish, then top with the rest of the parmesan.
- Bake for 20 minutes.
- Let the pasta rest for about 5 minutes before diving in.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!