Pasta Recipe

Last night was night 1 of my "I'm going to be an adult and cook real recipes" challenge. And because I'm doing my best to be a good blogger, I took pictures!

I was making a broccoli, garlic, and lemon penne dish I found in one of my cookbooks. Here goes!

Whoops. First a slight disruption. Because I had my camera out and because he's my fave, here's Jack for your enjoyment. He's such a help in the kitchen picking up all of the food I drop.

American Cancer Society Eat Right cookbook. Has some great recipes in it! I bought this book more than a year ago at a used book sale (for $1! Score!) and had never opened it. Tisk Tisk.

(Could not get this picture to rotate! Sorry!)

I have to admit. The photo grabbed me. Then I saw the recipe was pretty dang easy.

I heart the PLUS pastas. Whole grain but cooks like white pasta.

I did snack on some grapes while cooking! I was starving!

The recipe called for frozen broccoli, but I prefer fresh. And I don't care how much the recipe called for, I used a whole head. Broccoli, yum!

So while the water is boiling and the noodles are cooking, in another pan you sautee garlic in olive oil. The recipe called for 10 cloves of garlic, which seemed like a ton. So I just put a few spoonfuls of minced garlic in.

When the pasta is close to done, add broccoli.

In the other pan, when the garlic is done being sauteed (about two minutes) add chicken broth and bring to a boil. You're supposed to let the chicken broth boil for 3-5 minutes so it thickens. I jumped the gun on this a bit and didn't let it boil down too much. It was a tad watery, but it didn't ruin it.

Pasta, waiting for the broth to boil!

PS the only problem I ran into here is that I did not realize that the recipe called for a whole box of pasta! So I used too-small of a pan and not enough water.

Because the pans were too small, I moved to a bigger bowl.
Combine pasta/broccoli (drained), lemon zest (this was my first time ever zesting a lemon!), and broth/garlic mixture and blend. Add Parmesan cheese.

Viola!

Overall: I liked this dish. As stated above, I should have let the broth boil for another minute or two as the dish was a bit "watery," but it was still good. And it made a ton. Lots of leftovers!

PS: It would be easy to be more creative and add more veggies to this. I thought of that as I was eating it. Also, for a stronger taste, I would recommend not using the whole pasta box. I think this recipe would work with less pasta.

Here's the official recipe if you're interested:

1 box penne pasta
garlic (however much you'd like. Recipe called for 10 cloves sliced, I just used some minced)
1 can reduced sodium chicken broth
1 head broccoli (or frozen florets, however much you'd like)
1 lemon
Parmesan cheese, grated
1 T olive or canola oil

Bring water for penne to a boil in large pot. Add penne and cook per box instructions. When penne is al dante, add broccoli. When done, strain and set aside. Meanwhile, in a large pan, heat oil and add garlic. Sautee for 1-2 minutes. When garlic is done, add chicken broth. Bring to a boil and let boil for 3-5 minutes to thicken. While boiling, zest lemon.

When broth is done, combine penne and broccoli with the broth/garlic mixture and add lemon zest. Top with Parmesan cheese. Serve.

Hopefully I'll have more cooking successes and will have more recipes to share on this blog. Until then, enjoy your day!