Recipe: Lemon Broccoli Penne

Last week’s food talk encouraged me to start posting my made-up recipes on the blog. Honestly, I always thought everything I made was too simple and boring … I mean how many amazing food blogs are out there?! But, after hearing your feedback and thinking about it, sometimes simple and easy is best. A lot of times I get overwhelmed with the number of ingredients in a recipe or the amount of time it takes. This is probably the main reason why I don’t follow recipes lol.

I make a version of this pasta at least once a week for me and will adapt it for Mike. I’ll use regular pasta for him and we’ll add cheese or some kind of meat. The great part about this dish, once you get the consistency down, you can really add anything.

Enjoy!

Ingredients (gf and vegan):

Gf pasta (I use the brown rice version from Trader Joe’s)
Olive Oil
Garlic
Shallots
½ Lemon
Broccoli
Tomatoes
Salt
Pepper
Chili Flakes

Directions:

1. Cook brown rice pasta in salted water for 7-8 minutes or until al dente.
2. Rinse under cold water. Rice pasta can turn to mush if you overcook it. I like to run it under cold water right after I pull it from the stove so it doesn’t cook further.
3. Saute olive oil, garlic, shallots, chili flakes, and lemon (squeeze half the lemon).
4. Once the garlic is cooked a little (not raw), add the tomatoes and broccoli.
5. Once the broccoli is tender add the pasta. If it seems dry, squeeze more lemon, add white wine, or water.
6. Salt and pepper to taste.

*don’t leave the pasta on heat too long because it will dry out.