Pasta with Potatoes, Broccoli and Wild Pesto

This delicious pasta comes together in no time if you have a jar of (wild) pesto ready to use.

The recipe is inspired by a traditional pasta dish from Liguria, in north-west Italy. The original version is made with green beans rather than broccoli, but it's still far too early for beans in my vegetable garden. Instead, I use sprouting broccoli and my wild pesto. If you don’t have sprouting broccoli you can use tenderstem broccoli instead

The pasta, potatoes and broccoli are all cooked together in one pan before being tossed with the pesto. It's quick to make, means very little washing up, and tastes wonderful.

  • Ingrediënts

    Serves 4
    Preparation time: about 20 minutes

    • 300g pasta (I used casarecce)
    • 300g waxy potatoes, peeled and cut into wedges
    • 200g sprouting or tenderstem broccoli, washed and any thick stems halved lengthways
    • 150–200g wild pesto
    • Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
    • Freshly grated Parmesan, to serve

  • Method

    Bring a large pan of water to the boil. Add a generous pinch of salt and bring it back to the boil.

    Add the potatoes and the pasta and cook for about 7 minutes.

    Meanwhile, trim the ends of the broccoli and halve any thicker stems lengthways.

    Add the broccoli to the pan and cook for another 4–5 minutes, until both the pasta and potatoes are tender and the broccoli is just cooked.

    Drain everything, reserving a cup of the pasta cooking water.
    Stir through the pesto, adding a splash of the reserved pasta water if needed to loosen the sauce. Season to taste with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, then finish with plenty of freshly grated Parmesan.

You'll find the recipe for wild pesto here:

Wild pesto

Photography, words & recipes: © Anna Rubingh