A fresh summer pasta salad with roasted broccoli pesto dressing is easy to make, bursting with flavour and hard to resist. Perfect to make ahead, chill, and serve at any potluck, this salad is a favourite at BBQs and get togethers. This salad is pretty to look at and absolutely delicious. Tossed with a vibrant roasted broccoli pesto and filled with veggies, this pasta salad is fresh and delicious.

Isn’t pesto the world’s most perfect sauce? I think so! This vibrant sauce has salty Parmigiana, fragrant fresh basil, pine nut and good olive oil with a kick of garlic for good measure — what’s not to love! The only downside is it lacks a bit of nutrients and is not super healthy. The roasted broccoli florets offers a delectable solution. The crisp, and tender golden brown florets whizzed right into with the rest of the ingredients adds an emerald green colour as well as making it super nutritious.

Broccoli contains a lot of good-for-you fibre, vitamin C, and a surprising amount of protein, too. The crisp, golden brown florets are delicious as a side dish also! Roasted broccoli is so easy to make, and the florets come out of the oven deliciously golden brown, crisp, and tender. It’s hard not to eat them all straight off the baking sheet.

How to Roast Broccoli

Making perfect roasted broccoli couldn’t be easier! Here’s what you need to do:

1. First, preheat the oven to 200ºC and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. While the oven warms up, cut a head of broccoli into evenly sized florets. Spread them on the baking sheet in a single layer.
3. Toss the broccoli florets with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Transfer them to the hot oven and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until the florets are browned and crisp around the edges.

That’s it! Right when they come out of the oven, squeeze the roasted lemon juice over the florets. If serving on its own, finish them with a big sprinkle of red pepper flakes. Serve warm, and enjoy!

HOW TO MAKE BROCCOLI PESTO PASTA SALAD

I love that this pasta salad as it’s full of veggies and very nutritious. The best thing about this recipe is you can go ahead and make all of the components of the salad a day ahead of time; just keep everything separate and toss together right before serving.

1. Make Pesto
   Roast the broccoli as mentioned above. Put all the ingredients of the pesto in a food processor and blend until creamy smooth.
2. Boil pasta
   I’ve made this salad with Messicani pasta. This pasta grabs the sauce slightly better than rigatoni.
3. Pre the rest of the veggies and Mix
   Toss the hot pasta with the pesto sauce and the veggies and serve right away!

One tip! Save the pasta water! The starch water from the pasta makes it perfect to thin the sauce so don’t dump it right away.

Helpful Tips and Tricks to Make Pasta Salad with Broccoli Pesto:

Here are a few general tips to make sure your roasted broccoli turns out perfectly, every time.

• Always cut the broccoli florets into bite-sized pieces. That way, there are plenty of flat edges to lie flush against the pan and caramelise.
• Don’t be afraid of the salt. No one loves bland broccoli, so salt yours generously. I sprinkle mine with sea salt before roasting and then add more, to taste, after it comes out of the oven.
• Don’t toss the stalk! Chop it and roast it right along with the florets, save it to make soup, or pulse it into broccoli rice.
• Bake the broccoli at a relatively high temperature. High enough to get crispy, golden edges, but not so high that the olive oil burns on the pan and creates bitter flavours.
• You can make the broccoli pesto sauce ahead of time and toss it with the pasta before serving. You can make it up to2 day ahead. Let cool and drizzle with a thin layer of olive oil and seal it with an airtight container (I use a mason jar) to avoid colour discolouration.

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Pasta Salad with Broccoli Pesto

Serves: 6-8 Prep Time: 25 Minutes Cooking Time: 30 Minutes 30 Minutes

Nutrition facts: 200 calories 20 grams fat

Rating: 5.0/5

( 3 voted )

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Ingredients

For the Pesto:

• 1 head medium broccoli
• 4 cloves garlic
• ½ cup basil
• ½ cup parmesan cheese
• ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp roasted pine nuts
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• ¼ tsp red chilli flakes
• Salt to taste

For the Salad:

• 200g Messicani pasta (raw)
• 150g asparagus, blanched
• 60g broccoli florets, blanched
• 2 cups baby spinach, washed
• 1 cup peas, defrosted
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes, roasted
• ¼ cup roasted pine nuts
• Parmesan to garnish

method

For the pesto:

1. Pre-heat the oven at 200ºC.
2. Cut the broccoli into equal sized florets and toss well with salt and olive oil. Arrange on a rimmed baking tray ensuring there is no overcrowding. Bake for 20-25 minutes until they are tender and are slightly charred.
3. In a high speed blender or food processor, add the roasted broccoli florets  with the rest of pesto sauce ingredients from basil to lemon juice. Blend until chunky smooth and bright green. Thin the sauce with the reserved pasta water, 2 tbsp a time until desired consistency. (I use 3 tbsp pasta water). Season with salt and pepper to taste.

For the salad:

1. In salted water, cook the pasta according to the packet instructions until they are al dente. Reserve a ½  cup of the pasta water in case the dressing is too thick.
2. In boiling water add the asparagus and broccoli and let them stay for 1-2 minutes (no more than 2 minutes!). Remove and put straight into ice cold water, so that they retain there bright green colour.
3. In a large serving bowl toss the hot pasta and all the veggies and broccoli pesto until they are incorporated well.  Garnish with pine nuts and parmesan and enjoy! Serve warm or at room temperature.

Did You Make This Recipe?

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