Zero Waste Roasted Broccoli Pesto Pasta — a plant-based Italian recipe by BOSH!
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Zero Waste Roasted Broccoli Pesto Pasta

We genuinely cannot stop making this one. It started as a 'use up the whole broccoli' kind of night and it's now a proper staple in our rotation. The pesto is nutty, garlicky and green in the best way, and roasting the broccoli first gives it this slightly caramelised, almost smoky depth that you just don't get from steaming. It comes together in 35 minutes and uses every single bit of the broccoli, stalks included, which honestly feels like a win. Make this tonight and you'll be annoyed you didn't find it sooner.

Cook: 35 min
Serves 2

Before You Start

  • Preheat oven to 200°C
  • Large roasting dish
  • Food processor
  • Large pot for boiling pasta

Ingredients

  • 80g walnuts
  • 50g Nooch
  • 80g basil
  • 40ml olive oil
  • 1 large broccoli
  • Salt & pepper to taste
  • 4 garlic cloves
  • 1 large lemon
  • 1 tbsp oregano
  • 1 tbsp dried rosemary
  • 120g stale bread
  • 250g spaghetti

Method

1

For the broccoli

  • Start by cutting the broccoli florets off the stalk and put to one side
  • Crush the garlic cloves
  • Chop the stalk up into small chunks and pop into a roasting dish with the crushed garlic and a drizzle of olive oil
  • Roast in the oven for 20 minutes until the stalks are soft
  • Add your broccoli florets and walnuts to the dish and roast it all together for a further 10 minutes
2

Make the pesto

  • Once your roasted broccoli, garlic and walnuts are ready add it to a food processor and blitz
  • Then add the nooch, zest and juice of a lemon, basil, olive oil and salt and pepper to taste
  • Place in a bowl for later and set up the food processor ready to use again
3

For the pangrattato

  • Chop any old bread you have lying around and toast in the oven to dry out for 15 minutes
  • Once it’s nice and crunchy, add it to the food processor and blitz with oregano, rosemary and a drop of oil
  • Tip the contents out ready to sprinkle over your pasta later
4

Cook the spaghetti

  • Boil a large pot of water over a high heat
  • Add a big pinch of salt and pasta to the water and simmer for 9-11 minutes until cooked
5

Time to serve

  • Strain your pasta (reserving some of the cooking water) and add a generous dollop of your broccoli pesto and stir until all the pasta is coated
  • Loosen the pesto with the reserved cooking water as needed to get a silky sauce consistency
  • Pop your pasta into a bowl, add another spoonful of pesto on top, then sprinkle the pangrattato for added texture and flavour

Tips & Variations

  • Use the stalk: We know it's tempting to just bin the broccoli stalk but please don't. It roasts down into something almost buttery and it's honestly half the flavour in this pesto. Chop it small and let the oven do the work.
  • Swap the nuts: Walnuts are our go-to here but pine nuts or cashews work brilliantly if that's what you've got. Just keep an eye on them in the oven as they can catch quickly in the last few minutes.
  • Save your pasta water: Before you drain the pasta, scoop out a good mugful of that starchy cooking water. Add a splash when you toss everything together and it helps the pesto cling to every bit of pasta in the best way.

Why This Works

The trick here is roasting the broccoli stalks separately before the florets go in. They take longer to soften and they soak up all that garlicky olive oil, which becomes the flavour base of the whole pesto. Blending roasted veg into pesto instead of just raw basil and nuts gives it this incredible richness and body that coats the pasta beautifully.