Creamy Broccoli Rigatoni with Bacon Bits
Creamy broccoli rigatoni is one of my favorite pasta dishes ever and it’s so criminally underrated (!!) This sauce is, to me, like a better version of what carbonara should be (hear me out): rich, thick, and impossibly creamy, but not so much that I feel I can’t eat any more after a couple of bites.
Although this recipe doesn’t call for cream, believe me when I tell you this is one of the most lusciously creamy sauces I’ve made (the key is to keep the sauce relatively thick!). As if that wasn’t enough, the addition of crispy mini bacon bits just takes it over the top, giving each bite an indulgent feel that’s balanced out by all the veggies in the sauce. *swoon*
You can totally have the pasta by itself, but if you wanted to incorporate this into a meal with different courses, some lemon herb chicken cutlets would pair beautifully, as well as crispy skin cod, or even some crispy parmesan chicken cutlets.
As always, if you make this please DM me a pic on Instagram @vanillabeandiaries ! I’d love to see how it turns out. Xoxo <3
Creamy Broccoli Rigatoni with Bacon Bits
*Serves 4
Ingredients
200 g bacon or pancetta, cut into small pieces or lardons
1 broccoli crown (about 500 g), with the thick part of the stem removed and cut into florets
70 g spinach leaves
1 cup of very packed basil leaves (about 50 g)
2 cloves of garlic, peeled
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup finely grated grana padano cheese
2 tbsp cold butter, cut into small cubes
Salt & freshly ground black pepper
Enough rigatoni for 4, about 400 g
Instructions
1) Set a large pot of heavily salted water to boil. While it comes to a boil, add your bacon pieces to a medium-sized pan that’s off the heat, then place it over medium-low. Cook the bacon, stirring occasionally, until it darkens in color and gets crispy, about 8 minutes. If your bacon is sputtering a lot of fat and that fat starts to fly everywhere, lower the heat as necessary! You don’t want to burn your bacon, so take it low and slow if you need to. Once done, take your pan off the heat and use a slotted spoon to transfer your bacon bits to a small bowl. Set aside.
2) Once the water is boiling, add the broccoli and cook for 8 minutes, or until the stems are fork tender. When the broccoli is almost done cooking, prepare an ice bath by filling a large bowl three quarters of the way with water, and adding a generous amount of ice. As soon as the broccoli is done, transfer all the florets to your ice bath using a slotted spoon. This is called shocking the broccoli, and it helps stop the cooking immediately so it doesn’t get mushy. Don’t turn off the heat for the water! You still want it boiling.
3) To the same pot of boiling water, add your basil and spinach leaves and boil for 30 seconds. Immediately transfer to the ice bath with the broccoli, to shock them. Shocking the basil and spinach will help them retain a nice, vibrant green color when making the sauce! Keep the pot of water boiling, to use for boiling the pasta.
4) Transfer all the broccoli from the ice bath to a blender. Fish out the spinach and basil leaves from the ice bath with your hands, squeeze out as much liquid as you can, and pop them into the blender. Add in the garlic cloves, olive oil, grated grana padano, 2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper, and about 1 cup of the boiling water from the pot. Blend for 2-3 minutes, or until completely smooth and silky. The sauce should be slightly thick.
5) In the same pot of boiling water, cook your pasta til al dente. Reserve about 1 cup of pasta water.
6) Once the pasta is done, turn off the heat, drain it, and return it back to the pot. Add in your broccoli sauce, along with the cold butter cubes, and toss gently to incorporate and emulsify. Taste for salt and pepper and adjust as needed. Finally, add 3/4 of your reserved bacon bits and mix them in.
7) Serve immediately, garnishing with the remaining 1/4 cup of bacon bits, and more freshly ground pepper on top.
