I used to make this baked broccoli pasta dish a lot during uni as it’s cheap, easy, healthy and comforting. Just remember to rest it before serving – the roof of your mouth will thank you.
Before the internet set us free with access to a vast array of cooking content we had DVDs. In the late 00’s there was this one Jamie Oliver DVD that I purchased with pocket money at Cairns Central Sanity and you better believe that thing got a thrashing over school holidays.
That DVD, just a partial season of his series Jamie At Home, created a core memory. The series consisted of Jamie growing and cooking with fruit and veg at home, featuring a specific ingredient each episode.
Ok and broccoli-stuffed shells?
In one particular episode on broccoli and cauliflower, Jamie cooks down both vegetables in a pan with garlic, anchovies and chilli, then funnells the mash into cannelloni shells before baking in a red sauce.
The technique stuck in my mind. I can still remember the places I’ve sat while watching it. 10+ years later, it’s been the partial inspiration for some of my most popular recipes like the broccoli pasta. Here is another iteration where everyone’s favourite brassica shines to make a comforting and healthy pasta bake.
Tips before you begin
- Use this broccoli cutting trick to avoid broccoli dandruff.
- You don’t need to pre-cook the pasta, just make sure there’s enough red sauce for them to absorb.
- Always rest your bake for 10 minutes before serving, this lets it firm up a little and stops everyone totally scorching their mouthes on it.
Broccoli & ricotta stuffed shells
This is a great simple and healthy pasta bake. It's just like spinach and ricotta baked shells but the broccoli helps bulk out the filling with a bit of extra veg.
Ingredients
Instructions
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Preheat your oven to 180*C fan-forced.
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Steam broccoli for 10 minutes, or until soft. Add to a large bowl, mash, add ricotta, egg, parm and season. Mix well.
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In a large baking dish add the passata, salt and pepper, garlic, fennel and chilli.
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Fill shells with broccoli mix then place them in a single layer ontop of the passata. They should be almost covered and you might not need all the shells. This mix makes one pyrex roasting tray for me with a few shells leftover.
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Bake for 30 minutes then add grated cheese. Bake a further 15 minutes. Remove and rest for 10 minutes before serving.
