Pasta with Green Sauce is a super delicious and healthy pasta dish made with broccoli, anchovies, capers and cheese. It is packed with nutrients from broccoli and creaminess from the cheese.
This recipe for green pasta sauce is perfect for quick weekday meals. It takes less than half an hour to prepare. The sauce is ready in the time it takes the pasta to cook! It is super fresh and flavourful in addition to being quick and easy.
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Why this Recipe Works?
- Perfect weekday meal as it's ready in just half an hour.
- A great way to transform the "boring" broccoli into "amazing".
- Extremely easy to make with step-by-step pictures and instructions.
- The sauce is ready while the pasta is cooking.
Ingredients and Substitutes
- Broccoli - this dark green vegetable of the brassica family provides lots of vitamin C and vitamin A, as well as some iron, calcium and potassium. It gives this green pasta sauce a touch of creaminess and an incredible flavour punch. You can replace the broccoli with Romanesco broccoli which has a slightly lighter color and nuttier flavour.
- Butter - use either salted or unsalted, it gives an amazing taste and texture to the sauce. You can use 1.5 tablespoon olive oil instead of butter.
- Anchovies - they add a rich, savoury, umami flavour when dissolved into a sauce. They have a strong fishy taste so add in small amounts, to begin with, and add extra if necessary. You can replace anchovies with pancetta if you don't like the fishy taste coming from them. Use truffles or omit them if you want to make this delicious pasta dish vegetarian friendly!
- Capers - these small edible flower buds add a floral, tangy, and salty flavour to dishes. Use green olives or pickled gherkins if you don't have / like them.
- Garlic- it is the perfect ingredient for pasta dishes but you can replace it with chives or shallots.
- Pesto - traditional pesto is made with basil, parmesan, pine nuts, olive oil and garlic. You can use any type of green pesto but if you are lucky enough to make or find wild garlic pesto, that would be the best choice. I usually forage wild garlic during springtime and make big batches of pesto to use throughout the year. As you can guess, you don't need to use garlic if you use wild garlic pesto.
- Double Cream - it is very similar to heavy cream. You can substitute it with whipping cream or milk and butter.
- Mascarpone Cheese - it helps to thicken and enrich the sauce. You can omit and use more cream instead or substitute it with creme fraiche.
- Blue Cheese - stilton, gorgonzola, roquefort. Use whichever is your favourite to enrich the sauce and to give a sharp umami flavour. You can omit if you are not a big fan of blue cheese and add extra parmesan or some feta cheese to your sauce.
- Parmesan Cheese - no pasta is complete without parmesan cheese. Use a good quality block cheese and try to avoid already grated versions. Some of the best substitutes for parmesan are Grana Padano, Pecorino or Manchego cheeses.
- Parsley - one of my favourite herbs for pasta. You can use basil, chives, dill or any other herbs you prefer.
- Pasta - although my favourite is tagliatelle, linguini or spaghetti for that type of sauce, you can toss this delicious green sauce with any pasta you prefer.
Step-by-Step Instructions
It is very easy and quick to make this delicious and healthy sauce and to achieve the best results, you need to follow a few simple steps:
- Cook the broccoli - start with boiling some water for broccoli. Prepare the broccoli by cutting it into small fleurets and cooking them in boiling water until soft, for about 8 to 10 minutes. You can do all your preparation (grate the cheese, weigh the ingredients and chop the capers and parsley) while the broccoli is cooking. It is also a good time to put some water to boil for pasta. Drain the broccoli fleurets when cooked and set aside. Make sure you reserve the cooking liquid to use for the sauce later.
- Prepare the sauce - put a large pan or wok on medium heat at the same time as you start cooking your pasta in salty boiling water. (Assuming that you are using dry pasta which normally takes 12 to 14 minutes to cook. Always check the pasta packaging for the timing. You can adjust it to your liking of doneness). Add butter to the pan (or wok) and let it melt before adding the anchovies. As soon as the anchovies are melted and incorporated with butter, add the capers, stir for 30 seconds before adding the garlic and pesto. Give them a quick stir and then add the cream, mascarpone cheese, blue cheese and parmesan. Stir well until they all melt into a creamy sauce and then add the chillies, freshly ground black pepper and salt.
Stir in the broccoli fleurets and gently simmer for 5-6 minutes until they all form a thick, green creamy sauce. Add a little cooking water from broccoli if the sauce is too thick. Add the parsley just before adding the pasta to the sauce, stir well and cook the sauce with the pasta for another couple of minutes before serving.
- Combine the sauce with pasta - Add the parsley just before adding the pasta to the sauce, stir well and cook the sauce with the pasta for another couple of minutes before serving.
You can reheat the pasta with sauce in the microwave. If you don't have a microwave, you can reheat the pasta gently in a pan with a little liquid added on very low heat. If the sauce is cream-based, add a little milk, otherwise, use water or stock to reheat the pasta.
You can refrigerate the pasta for up to 5 days. Cool the pasta down and put it in an airtight container before refrigerating. This pasta freezes well and you can keep it in the freezer for up to 3 months.
A bowl of salad such as Rocket and Parmesan Salad, Greek Salad or Summer Chickpea Salad is all you need to enjoy this delicious pasta dish. Garlic bread is another great accompaniment to pasta dishes. Why not try my delicious Garlic Naan Bread for a twist?
Related Recipes
Love pasta? If so, please check out my other delicious pasta dishes!
Top Tip From the Chef
When cooking pasta, make sure you use a large pan with lots of water. Add plenty of salt and bring the water to a rapid boil before adding your pasta. Follow the instructions on the packaging for cooking time.
Kitchen Gadgets I Love
I hope you enjoy the process of making this easy pasta recipe as much as you enjoy eating it! 🙂
Bon appétit! / Afiyet Olsun!
Pasta with Green Sauce
Ingredients
- 400 g broccoli fleurets (1 medium head)
- 30 g butter
- 30 g anchovies (around 8 pieces)
- 1 tbsp capers (chopped)
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 tablespoon pesto
- 100 ml double cream
- 20 g mascarpone cheese
- 40 g blue cheese
- 80 g parmesan cheese
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ⅓ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ⅓ teaspoon chilli flakes (or ½ chopped fresh red chilli)
- 2 tablespoon parsley (chopped)
- 400 g pasta of your choice
Instructions
- Start with preparing the broccoli. Cut it into small fleurets and cook in boiling water until soft, for about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain the broccoli and reserve the cooking liquid.
- Boil some water for pasta and get your other ingredients ready while the broccoli is cooking.
- Put a large pan or wok on medium heat at the same time as you start cooking your pasta in salty boiling water. (Assuming that you are using dry pasta which normally takes 12 to 14 minutes to cook. Always check the pasta packaging for the timing. You can adjust it to your liking of doneness).
- Add butter to the pan (or wok) and let it melt before adding the anchovies.
- As soon as the anchovies are melted and incorporated with butter, add the capers, stir for 30 seconds before adding the garlic and pesto.
- Give them a quick stir and then add the cream, mascarpone cheese, blue cheese and parmesan.
- Stir well until they all melt into a creamy sauce and then add the chillies, freshly ground black pepper, salt and broccoli fleurets.
- Gently simmer for 5-6 minutes until they all form a thick, green creamy sauce. Add a little cooking water from broccoli if the sauce is too thick.
- Add the parsley just before adding the pasta to the sauce, stir well and cook the sauce with the pasta for another couple of minutes before serving.
Nutrition
Food safety
- Cook to a minimum temperature of 165 °F (74 °C)
- Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods
- Never leave cooking food unattended
- Use oils with high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds
- Always have good ventilation when using a gas stove
See more guidelines at USDA.gov.
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