Welcoming spring with open arms in the form of lemon broccoli pasta with kale. Bright and herby flavors with a fun flavor profile: rosemary, lemon zest and juice, red chili flakes, dijon mustard, nutritional yeast, and a little nutmeg and black pepper. It takes one-pot and 30 minutes! Treat yourself to this comfort this spring or really any time of the year.

Lemon broccoli pasta with kale. Bright, herby flavors that take one-pot and 30 minutes! Treat yourself to this comforting pasta any season.

Give me anything that has hints of lemon and I’ll be happy. Lemons are such a simple ingredient with such a simple flavor, but when you combine it with other stuff, it can be magical. This is a slightly altered rendition of my lemon broccoli spaghetti, because I’m pretty obsessed with that too.

So let’s just talk about this lemon broccoli pasta with kale.

The Rundown

1. Cook your pasta al dente, which basically just means slightly undercook so that it’s still slightly chewy. It will heat up again with the rest of the stuff in the pan, so overcooked pasta will not look cute. Make sure to reserve pasta water to add to the final dish near the end! I used Banza’s cavatappi. It’s such a fun shape!

2. Zest and juice a lemon. Very important to do both.

3. Add the veggies: broccoli and kale. Though you can pretty much do this recipe with any veggies you have. Might I suggest mushrooms and peas?

4. Go to flavor town: red chili flakes, nutritional yeast, turmeric, nutmeg, black pepper, dijon mustard, and most importantly, dry rosemary. You can totally substitute some of these ingredients if you don’t have them. I’d go with red chili powder or cayenne instead of red chili flakes, miso instead of nutritional yeast, and any dried herb instead of rosemary.

5. Make it creamy with some plant-based milk. I find any milk works well for this. I used oat milk for this one, but I’ve made it with other milks too. Basically once the veggies are cooked, add the milk, pasta water, and finally, the pasta.

Lemon Broccoli Pasta with Kale

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Ingredients

8 oz. pasta
1 medium head of broccoli
1 cup chopped kale (~ 2 stems)
1.5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
¾ tsp red chili flakes
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp lemon zest
½ tbsp dijon mustard
2 tbsp nutritional yeast
½ tsp black pepper
¼ tsp nutmeg
¼ tsp turmeric
2 tsp dried rosemary
½ cup unsweetened plant-based milk
½ cup reserved pasta water
crushed walnuts for topping

Instructions

Cook pasta al dente according to package instructions. When they're done, make sure to reserve ½ cup of pasta water. Prepare all ingredients.
Add oil to a pan over medium heat. Add garlic, red chili flakes, and lemon zest. Saute for 2 minutes.
Add black pepper, nutmeg, turmeric, mustard, and lemon juice. Cook for a minute.
Add broccoli, nutritional yeast, and dried rosemary. Let broccoli soften and cook a little (~ 3-4 minutes) before adding kale and continuing to cook for 2-3 more minutes. Add milk and let it combine well with everything else. Add another 1/4 cup milk if you want it creamier.
Add reserved pasta water, take the pan off the heat, and mix in the pasta.
Top with the remaining 1 tsp of rosemary, some red chili flakes according to preference, and crushed walnuts.