Description

My family's obsessed with this hearty yet simple sausage pasta perfect for weeknight dinners. It's packed with fresh broccoli, Parmesan, good olive oil, green olives, and lemon zest to hit all the flavor and texture notes. On the table in just over 30 minutes. You'll crave it over and over!

Ingredients

Units Scale

12 oz short cut pasta (reserve 2 cups pasta water), I love Brami
1 large broccoli crown, cut into bite-size pieces (about 4 cups florets)
12-16oz mild uncooked Italian sausage, casings removed* (I use chicken sausage, but pork or plant-based Italian sausage work!)
3 1/2 tbsp good extra virgin olive oil
6 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/3 cup green olives, roughly chopped (optional but recommended! I like castelvetrano)
1 large lemon, zested
good pinch red pepper flakes + salt and pepper, to taste

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Instructions

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Season with plenty of salt (I use 2 tbsp fine sea salt). Chop broccoli.
Once water is boiling, add pasta and cook according to package directions. When 5 minutes remain in the cooking time, add broccoli (for more crisp broccoli, you can add with 4 min remaining).
Meanwhile, warm a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add sausage and cook, stirring often, for about 7-10 minutes, or until no longer pink. If using pork sausage, drain well using a slotted spoon and transfer to a bowl.
Drain pasta and broccoli, reserving 2 cups of the pasta water. (I like to place a liquid measuring cup under the strainer for ease.) Return pasta to the pot.
Warm 1/2 tbsp olive oil in the skillet used for the sausage over medium low heat. Add garlic and a pinch of red pepper flakes. Cook, stirring often, for 2-3 minutes, until fragrant and just starting to turn golden. Stir in sausage.
Add mixture to pot with pasta with 1 1/2 cups reserved pasta water, parmesan, olives, lemon zest, remaining 3 tbsp olive oil, and plenty of freshly ground black pepper (I find I don't need extra salt if I heavily salt the pasta water). Stir and adjust seasoning to taste, adding more pasta water if needed to loosen. Serve hot with extra parmesan and red pepper flakes!

Notes

Fresh basil is amazing in this pasta too if you have it! For a cheesier pasta, you can add 1/2-1 cup of shredded mozarella cheese.