Broccoli Pesto Pasta with Green Olives
Make this broccoli pesto pasta recipe for a fresh and veggie-packed dinner! Featuring broccoli, toasted pine nuts, green olives and Parmesan.
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on August 30, 2024
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Broccoli, pesto, and green olives—believe it! This pasta recipe tastes so fresh. It’s perfectly suited for springtime dinners, though I think you’ll want to keep it in your repertoire for the rest of the year.
I wouldn’t have come up with this pasta combination myself, so I’m glad I found the recipe in my friend Kelly Senyei’s new cookbook, The Secret Ingredient Cookbook. You might know Kelly from her blog, Just a Taste. Kelly is a delightful person, a professionally trained chef and a hard-working mom to three boys, all under the age of five.
Kelly’s new cookbook offers 125 family-friendly recipes with fun secret ingredient twists. I don’t want to spoil all the surprises, but I’m looking forward to trying the Caesar pasta salad (with avocado), Greek chopped salad (with halloumi cheese), 30-minute mac and cheese (with pumpkin) and mushroom ravioli with brown butter sauce (with goat cheese, and made entirely from scratch). And good gracious, wait until you see the desserts.
This broccoli pesto pasta recipe includes green olives as the secret ingredient. They offer a delicious briny olive flavor and cover up the flavor of the broccoli. She says her boys absolutely love this dish, so this dish is designed for the whole family. I found some ricotta in my fridge and really enjoyed a few dollops over my bowl. Serve it as you please!
Broccoli Pesto Pasta Notes & Tips
- This pasta comes together quickly for weeknight dinners. It’s ready in just over 30 minutes.
- Kelly says this pasta can be served warm, at room temperature, or chilled, so it’s perfect for all seasons.
- This pasta could easily be made dairy free/vegan. Just omit the cheese, and see the recipe notes for suggested alternatives.
- Use as much of the pesto as you’d like, and freeze any leftover pesto for later (see recipe note for details). I love saucy pastas, so I used all of it.
- I love to serve this pasta with a few dollops of ricotta, a sprinkle of red pepper flakes and a light drizzle of olive oil. If you (or your kids) prefer more mellow flavors, serve it as written instead!
How to Make Broccoli Pesto Pasta
You’ll love how this recipe comes together. Find the full recipe below or in Kelly’s book on page 129. Here’s the gist:
- Bring a large pot of water to boil and cook the broccoli for a few minutes. Then, transfer the broccoli to a blender and use the boiling water to cook the pasta.
- In the meantime, toast the pine nuts in a skillet for a few minutes to bring out their best, most nutty flavor. Transfer the pine nuts to the blender.
- Add the remaining pesto ingredients to the blender (drained olives, basil, garlic, Parmesan and black pepper). Reserve some of the pasta cooking water before draining the pasta, and add 1/2 cup to the blender.
- Pulse the pesto to combine. While running the blender, drizzle in olive oil and blend until puréed.
- Pour as much pesto into the pasta as you’d like, toss, and serve.
Watch How to Make Broccoli Pesto Pasta
More Veggie Pasta Dishes to Enjoy
Here are a few more of my favorite pasta recipes:
- Best Vegetable Lasagna
- Caprese Pasta Salad
- Lemony Green Pasta with Peas & Ricotta
- Pasta alla Norma
- Spinach Stuffed Shells with Marinara
Be sure to check out The Secret Ingredient Cookbook for more delicious, family-friendly recipes! Please let us know how the recipe turns out in the comments.
Broccoli Pesto Pasta with Green Olives
Make this broccoli pesto pasta for a fresh and veggie-packed dinner! This recipe features broccoli, toasted pine nuts, green olives and Parmesan. The green olives disguise the broccoli flavor and bring this dish to life. Recipe yields 4 to 6 servings.
Ingredients
- 2 cups broccoli florets
- 1 pound uncooked pasta, such as rigatoni or penne
- 1 cup green olives, drained and pitted
- 3 tablespoons pine nuts
- 2 cups fresh basil leaves (about 1 ⅓ ounce, or 2 small containers)
- 3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
- 3 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- Several twists of freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- Salt, to taste
- Optional, for serving (my additions): Dollops of ricotta and/or red pepper flakes, drizzle of olive oil
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Add the broccoli florets and cook for 1 minute. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the broccoli to a blender.
- Bring the water back to a boil. Add the pasta and cook until al dente, 10 to 12 minutes, or according to package directions. Drain the pasta, reserving 1 cup of the pasta water.
- Cook the pine nuts in a small saucepan set over medium heat, moving the nuts around, until fragrant and toasted, about 3 minutes.
- Add the pine nuts to the broccoli in the blender, along with the olives, basil, garlic, Parmesan, pepper, and ½ cup of the reserved pasta cooking water. Pulse until combined, stopping to stir as necessary.
- With the blender running, stream in the olive oil, stopping the blender and scraping down the sides as needed, until the pesto is pureed. Taste and season with salt and additional pepper.
- In a large bowl, toss together the pasta with your desired amount of pesto (I used all of it), thinning it with additional reserved pasta water 2 tablespoons at a time if needed. Sprinkle with some additional grated Parmesan, if you’d like.
- Serve warm, at room temperature or chilled. Serve in individual bowls, as-is or with dollops of ricotta, sprinkle of red pepper flakes or a light drizzle of olive oil. Leftover pesto pasta keeps well in the fridge, covered, for 4 days.
Notes
This recipe comes from The Secret Ingredient Cookbook by Kelly Senyei.
Make it dairy free/vegan: Omit the Parmesan and don’t add ricotta. You might like a sprinkle of Vegan Parmesan or Vegan Sour Cream in their place, but I bet it’s lovely with just an extra drizzle of olive oil.
Make it gluten free: Substitute your favorite sturdy gluten-free noodles, such as a corn and quinoa blend.
Kelly’s leftover pesto tip: Pour it into ice cube trays, then cover securely with plastic wrap and freeze. When ready to serve, pop out a pesto cube or two and defrost in the microwave or on the stovetop with your pasta of choice.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
This recipe is delicious! I mixed the sauce at a 2:1 ratio with some low fat ricotta and it made it even better.
Made this today and loved it! My husband who is not a big fan of pesto otherwise, loved this version and so did I. Definitely a keeper and a great vegetarian option.
That’s great to hear, Wasima! Thank you for your review.
Hey Kate ! I made this dish today but I skipped the pine nuts and added lime juice and topped it off with chick peas for extra protein. Very yummy recipe !
I’m happy to hear you enjoyed it with your adjustments, Martina!
Hello Kate….I have made many of your recipes and Loved them! Having said that and having some reservations about trying this one, I gave in. Sadly “mushing” up pine nuts (pricey) with olives and basil and brocolli just didn’t cut it. My poor hubby who usually raves about your recipes had trouble eating it….as he said, “it’s tasty”, translation passable. I think the basil pesto on its own and then adding chopped olives and broccolli to the pasta would have worked instead of pureeing it (they seemed to get lost in the mix taste wise). Hey this is just my thought on this…
Hi Irene, I’m sorry you didn’t love this recipe. I appreciate your feedback.
Was pleasantly surprised with this recipe and how yummy it is! Fully expected it to taste of puréed broccoli but the cheese and olives do a great job of covering it up and making a delicious sauce.
Best vegetarian pasta I’ve had hands down. First time making homemade pesto sauce. And I recommend. I made a summer time lunch for me and my boyfriend, it was great I paired it with some eggplant parmigiana.
Thank you for your review, Kacie! I’m excited you both enjoyed it.
Excellent recipe, Kate! Thank you so much for it! My husband loves peas so I added them and it was amazing :)
Great to hear, Beth! Thank you for your review.
This looks delicious! Planning to try it out for dinner next week–any suggestions for sides?
It would go well with a roasted vegetable or even another side salad. I hope you love it!
Any suggestions for substituting the olives? My son hates broccoli but hates olives more. (he gets it from dad!!)
Can I omit them all together and punch up the seasonings??
I love the idea of the broccoli but I need to cover the taste.
Thanks. ♥️
Hi Ellyn, I would recommend a different pasta if your son is really put off by it. My Lemony Green Pasta with Peas & Ricotta would be a great option to try!
Thanks for the good recipe! I had the ingredients in house and decided to try it. My tween and I both liked it! One question- what type of green olives are recommended? I used Goya Spanish olives with pimentos and wondered if there’s a better choice.
I would recommend green olives without peppers. I’m glad you enjoyed it!
what brand of green olives do you use? Do you have to pit them yourself or is there a good brand that is already pitted?
Thank you!
Hi! I use pitted if I can find them. Organic if I can find them, too.
Can’t wait to make this! So many different kinds of olives out there, what kind of green olives how expensive should they be? Or just cheapie green olives woLemark?
You can choose your favorite!
So good! I halved the olives because I was worried they’d be too boldl and subbed pistachios for the pine nuts, then mixed it in w/ pasta/pasta water/extra parm on the stove. I also forgot to add garlic… but it turned out great! Honestly one of the best pastas I’ve made in a while, I can’t wait to make this again. Thanks Kate!
Thank you! We love it and have made it twice now. We put it on the organic fusilli pasta at Trader Joe’s and added some English peas to boil the last minute. Love ricotta and pepper flakes with it too. Your recipes are the best, and I always feel good feeding my family them, with the focus on veggies even with traditionally non-veggie meals like pesto pasta. This one is another keeper!
Great to hear, Alexa!
This is another wonderful recipe! I’m from Australia, absolutely love this recipe. I included the juice of one fresh lemon (off a tree) for zing! And an extra tablespoon of pine nuts. I don’t think you can go wrong with this recipe, or variations. We love broccoli, so it was a huge winner in our house. I also cooked the broccoli in veggie stock, just to add a little more flavour. I’m going to make it again next week, and use marinated green olives in chilli oil. To serve, we added additional cracked pepper, with more lemon juice. Fabulous!
Hooray! I’m glad you love it, Suse.