Pasta with Roasted Broccoli, Tomatoes, Olives, and 🍋

It’s so great today how there are different pastas made of alternate ingredients to suit varying dieting needs. This dish can be made with the pasta of your choice, but I gave chickpea rotini a try. It was good! It doesn’t change anything in the carb department but it’s made of chickpea protein so it sounded nutritious. This is such a clean pasta; roasted vegetables, briny kalamata olives, lemon zest, and a two step lemony vinaigrette. Roasting the broccoli and tomatoes really draws out their flavors. This is a great template for a pasta dish; any type and shape of pasta, any roasted veggie you have on hand, a savory boost like olives or capers, and a simple sauce of olive oil and fresh lemon juice. Add almost any toasted nut for crunch and warmth and you’re made in the shade. I also love adding raw greens like spinach or kale to warm pasta to make it literally a “pasta salad”🥗.   

Ingredients:

Box of your preferred pasta

3 cups of broccoli florets

2 cups halved cherry tomatoes

Jar of pitted kalamata olives halved lengthwise

Six minced garlic cloves

Quarter tsp crushed red pepper flakes

Quarter cup lemon juice

Quarter cup olive oil

Salt and pepper

Lemon

Directions:

Prepare pasta accordingly in a large pot of salted water. Preheat oven to 400. Toss broccoli with 4 cloves of minced garlic and 3 tbsp of olive oil. Roast about 20 minutes or until fork tender and edges start to crisp. Toss tomatoes with the remainder of the garlic, the red pepper flakes, and two tbsp olive oil.

Roast also about 20 minutes until the tomatoes start to split and shrivel. Mix the lemon juice, olive oil, a half tsp salt and a quarter tsp pepper. Whisk well. Pour half over warm pasta and mix.  Then add the rest of the ingredients, and toss gently with remainder of the dressing. Top with freshly grated lemon zest. Serve with the Lady Blaga minestrone soup and any of my salads for a complete three course meal. Cooking is fun, right?? ️