Broccoli-Walnut Pesto Pasta
- Total Time
- 25 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:4 to 6 servings
- Kosher salt
- 4cups broccoli florets (10 ounces from 2 crowns)
- 1pound cut pasta, such as medium shells
- 1large garlic clove, smashed
- 2packed cups fresh mint leaves (about 2 ounces from one small bunch)
- Black pepper
- ½cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for serving
- 1lemon, zested and juiced
- Parmigiano-Reggiano, for serving
- ½cup walnuts, chopped
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)
539 calories; 26 grams fat; 4 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 14 grams monounsaturated fat; 7 grams polyunsaturated fat; 64 grams carbohydrates; 6 grams dietary fiber; 3 grams sugars; 14 grams protein; 449 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Powered byPreparation
- Step 1
Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil over high heat. Add ¼ cup salt, then add the broccoli. Cook, stirring occasionally, until bright green and just tender, about 5 minutes. Use a spider or slotted spoon to transfer to a food processor; keep the water boiling.
- Step 2
Drop the pasta into the boiling water and cook according to the package’s directions for al dente. Reserve ½ cup pasta cooking water.
- Step 3
Meanwhile, add the garlic to the broccoli and pulse, scraping the bowl occasionally, until smooth. Add the mint, 1 teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper. Pulse until smooth, then add the oil with the machine running.
- Step 4
Drain the pasta well and transfer to a large bowl. Stir in the pesto. Add 2 tablespoons lemon juice and ½ teaspoon each salt and pepper and toss until the pasta is evenly coated. If the mixture seems thick, fold in the reserved pasta water, 1 tablespoon at a time. The mixture will thicken as it cools, so you want it to be saucy. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Step 5
Divide among serving dishes and top with lemon zest, then grate cheese over. Sprinkle with the walnuts, grind more black pepper on top, then drizzle with olive oil. Serve hot, warm or room temperature.
Tip
- The pasta with the pesto will keep in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Garnish with the lemon zest, cheese, walnuts, pepper and oil right before serving. Note that the pesto will oxidize after a day and darken into a khaki green. If packing for lunch, put the pasta in an airtight container and scatter the garnishes on top. If you want to keep the walnuts extra crunchy, you can keep them separate and sprinkling them on right before eating.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
RH
This was fantastic. Packed way more flavor than expected. Added a teaspoon of red pepper flakes and a tad more lemon juice and garlic. Really really great. Broccoli and mint are a dynamite combo.
DELICIOUS
We tossed the stems with olive oil the roasted them in the oven - made a great addition to the pasta! DELICIOUS (and super easy)
Paige
Fresh, tasty and a good way to add veggies to a pasta meal. I found the proportions of broccoli to mint a little high, and it makes more pesto than you need. Next time I’ll use one crown of broccoli not two, and more lemon.
Alex
For those commenting on the salt, "salt" is not what is off in the recipe. 1/4 cup is not that much in a pot of water. What is at issue is the size of the "saucepan," which is not specified. Here's a recommendation: use the right amount of salt for the pasta pot you're using. It should taste like the sea. Most recipes recommend cooking pasta with a lot of water. Personally, I prefer less water, so that the water is starchy enough to really help thicken the sauce.
C Kelly
My family and I enjoyed this. Not sure why others say it’s too salty. It’s not. Maybe they’re using table salt and not kosher. Or they’re not using enough water to boil the pasta. (Granted, the author says a large saucepan. I think a pasta pot would be more appropriate, so the water wouldn’t be as salty.) Will make again, as the flavors are quite nice together but I’ll probably just do them all in the food processor, rather than keep the walnuts and parm out until the end.
Lisa
Made with basil instead of mint. Only salt to taste. Kids ate it!
Gene J
Most of the NYT recipes seem to expect kosher salt although they don't mention that. 1/4 cup table salt is actually more "salty" than an equivalent amount of kosher. The amount of water in the pot would make a difference as well.
Glo
The 1/4 c of salt has to be some sort of mistake. I questioned it while I was dumping it in and should've followed my instincts. We couldn't finish what was on our plates and ended up throwing it out. What a waste.
PhyllisP
Made this last night with a few changes. Decreased salt in broccoli water; added 1/2 cup toasted walnuts to food processor for pesto along with a portion of the lemon juice and zest and about 1/2 cup parmesan. Used 1 cup mint and 1 cup basil for pesto. Held out several broccoli florets for each serving and threw them in during last few minutes of pasta boil. Loved this as a change from my usual basil pesto. Will use even more lemon next time. Served with spinach, feta and walnut salad.
Too much salt
Not sure why this recipe calls for so much salt. 1/4 cup is wayyyy too much. Meal ruined.
Jennifer Mary Bell
This is delicious and makes up quickly BUT if made according to the directions it is massively over-salted. I am usually the salt fiend in our household and even I found it far too much. I would add at the most 1/2 teaspoon salt to the pesto and only carefully add more to taste at the end.
Jasmine
Way too salty, but I could taste underneath all the salt what would have been a great dish. I wonder if they mean 1/4 tbsp of salt? 1/4 cup is over the top.
Clark
Very good. Very easy. As a garlic lover I had the [not so genius] idea to double the garlic. Well, if I roasted it maybe it would have worked. But doubling raw garlic made it so spicy it was nearly unpalatable. Shed a tear as I dumped the bowl out I had set aside for lunch the next day. Stick to recipe. With lots of grated parm ;) hubs added red pepper flakes.
john
Fun recipe using broccoli! Didn’t have walnuts but did have pine nuts that i pulsed in with the broccoli mix. Don’t skimp on the cheese and a drizzle of oil to finish really makes it pop!
LS
This was yummy but tooooo salty. You don’t need that much salt in the water, I don’t think, it makes both the broccoli and the pasta pretty salty and there’s also salt in the pesto, and of course the Parmesan is salty too. That said, it was still yummy and I’ll make it again, just with less salt.
Jon
Under no circumstances should you put 1/4 cup salt in the boiling water in a saucepan. The resulting dish was so salty, it was inedible.
Caroline Pasyanos
I will definitely be making this again. Like others I had extra pesto. To stretch it into another meal, I roasted some frozen broccoli (using a recipe from BudgetBytes), and tossed it in with some ricotta I mixed with lemon zest and half of the lemon juice. I squeezed the other half of the lemon juice over the pasta with the pesto. Don't think the ricotta was strictly necessary, but I will definitely be adding roast broccoli again.
kellyn
I made this with fresh oregano, the only herb currently in my kitchen garden, and about half of the broccoli (all I had on hand). I used the approach I learned for making pestos from a cookbook I can no longer name by combining some of the (roasted) walnuts and pecorino Romano with the other pesto ingredients (and pasta water!) in my food processor. My child and I loved it, and I’ll definitely make it again.
K
Way too salty. Cut back.
Carien
Added anchovies, chilli, capers, basil and parsley along with the mint and garlic, and blitzed it all together with the walnuts to make the pesto. Salt to taste. Came out beautifully- you get the mint flavour without it being overwhelming. Anchovies add lovely umami flavour, chilli adds some kick. Will definitely make this again.
SKH
Why hasn’t someone altered the recipe to indicate less salt? I see the TOO SALTY comments go back 5 years!! Wish I would have read them. Now I know. :-(
Karina
I also reduced the salt; next time I will shorten the cook time for the broccoli. I found it too mushy and like "baby food" with five minutes boiling. Also, I ground the walnuts into the sauce by mistake, then added 1/2 cup shredded parm with the olive oil, lemon and zest. And used basil instead of mint. It ended up to be a more robust version of pesto basil and my whole family loved it!
JERF
Delicious and easy. I salted to taste throughout rather than adding a huge wad of salt to the water. Also: more lemon juice, and lots of Parmesan in the pesto itself. All family members, even the kid who dislikes cooked vegetables, loved it!
Bec
WAY too salty, and I didn't even use all the suggested salt. Borderline inedible.
Leggy
This was good. A little bland but easy to adjust. I added a whole lemon juiced to add balance. Since I was planning to give this to my kids I resisted the urge to add heat. Upon platting the zest, cheese, and walnuts pull the dish together. I topped with Calabrian chilies and was very satisfied.
thenitcherkitchen
Wow, so good! I recommend a larger pot and plenty of water. Remember, you will also cook your pasta in this pot! As others have said, the water should taste like the ocean. Also, I didn’t have walnuts, so I made a cashew cream and blended it with the broccoli. The result was so smooth! Put it on cascatelli, the internet’s favorite sauceable pasta :)
Claire W
Made half the recipe so 3 serves. Added half the salt to water and NOT too salty, especially as you cook broccoli in it first, then the pasta. I used whole-wheat pasta and think it needed that much salt. But I use a large saucepan as is usual for cooking pasta with about 4 litres water. Perfect! Served with nutritional yeast for me and Parmesan for husband with some crisped prosciutto on top. Perfect. Will make again. also used hand-held stick blender… was easy as I only made half recipe.
Tim
Do not add 1/4 cup salt to a normal sized pot. Just salt it as much as you would normally salt water for pasta.
Annie
This is my favorite pasta dish right now. I do half mint/half parsley, and I slice the discarded broccoli stems thin and cook in a pan with one chopped yellow onion, crushed walnuts and red pepper flakes to fold in with everything at the end. Really takes it to the next level. Sometimes I add peas!
Ricardo
10/10 on this recipe. Made a few changes as a personal preference - I blended the walnuts with the broccoli, used green onions instead of mint and added red crushed peppers. Also crisped up some mushrooms and used as garnish 🤌🏼
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