March 9, 2011

Lunch & Dinner - Broccoli Parmy Pasta

Total Prep Time: Approximately 30 minutes

1 Grain Products (1/2 cup cooked pasta) 
1 Vegetables and Fruit (1/2 cup broccoli) 

My family loves to eat pasta.  Whether it's a slow cooked tomato sauce or a quick eggy sauce, my boys are always happy to see a plate of pasta on their place mats at dinner time.  We do serve pasta to our boys once a week, but always make sure to offer a balanced dinner filled with vegetables and protein.

One pasta dish we cannot stop eating is Broccoli Parmy Pasta.  As a working mom, I'm always looking for fast and easy dinners that won't bore the entire family.  This recipe is so quick to put together and fits into any busy weeknight.  The pasta and broccoli cook in about the same amount of time, and all ingredients are combined into one bowl.  Add as much or as little broccoli to the pasta as you'd like - we load up on it because the boys are broccoli monsters. 


Broccoli Parmy Pasta 

Ingredients:
900 gram bag of your favourite pasta (we use fusilli for this recipe)
1/4 cup grated parmesan
2 bunches of fresh broccoli, washed and trimmed
3 tbsp melted butter or margarine
1 tbsp dried parsley flakes
1 tsp ground black pepper

Directions:
  1. Fill a large pot with cold water, bring to a boil.
  2. While waiting for the water to boil, wash and trim the broccoli.  Cut off the small florets.  Peel the stems and cut into quarters.  Steam on the stove for 8 minutes, or place in a covered glass dish with 1/4 cup of water and microwave for 10 minutes.
  3. When the water comes to a boil, add the pasta.  Cook for 8 to 10 minutes, or until al dente.  Drain and return to the pot.
  4. Drain the cooked broccoli and add to the pasta.  Pour the melted butter/margarine over the pasta and broccoli, stirring to combine.  Add parmesan cheese, black pepper and parsley flakes.  Stir until cheese is melted.  Serve immediately.
  5. Serves 8.
Lil-J digging in
When we make this recipe, we use the entire bag (900g) of pasta.  It may seem like a lot of pasta, but this meal tastes even better the next day.  With an entire bag, we have dinner for four, lunch for work the next day, and a quick dinner for the boys the following night.  Total cost for 8 meals?  Under $10!  It goes far and it tastes so good that we don't mind eating it two days in a row.

Because there is little protein in this meal, serve yogurt for dessert. 


*TIPS*
1. Substitute the broccoli for any other vegetable.  Steamed asparagus or baby bok choy would be delicious!
2. Substitute the melted butter/margarine for extra virgin olive oil.
3. Add roasted chicken to the pasta for a more complete meal.

2 comments:

Kailin said...

Look at the size of that plate - I bet he ate it all and asked for seconds LOL

Shauna MacKenzie said...

Haha! You know your nephews well Auntie Kailin :) Josh did have a 2nd plate! And leftovers the next night! If you like broccoli, you've got to try this one - it's sooooo good!