Creamy White Sauce Broccoli Pasta

Ingredients

• 350 g mini shells or any small shaped pasta
• 1 head broccoli cut into small florets
• 15 ml olive oil
• 30 g butter unsalted
• 1 medium onion chopped
• 3 cloves garlic minced
• 2 g Italian seasoning
• 0.5 g red pepper flakes
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 250 ml heavy cream, if you don't want to use cream, milk with flour is a good alternative for white sauce 
• 100 g Parmesan cheese freshly grated

Serves 4

Instructions

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the pasta according to package instructions. Reserve 1 cup of pasta water.

In a large skillet add the olive oil and butter over medium heat. Once the butter has melted add the onion and cook for 3 minutes until softened. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds until aromatic

Add the broccoli florets to the skillet, along with the Italian seasoning, red pepper flakes, and salt and pepper. Stir and cook for about 5 minutes until the broccoli softens. For children, I would normally blend broccoli in a blender for creamy consistency.

Add the heavy cream and ½ cup of the reserved pasta water to the skillet. Bring to a boil then simmer for another 5 minutes until sauce thickens. Add the Parmesan cheese and cooked shells. Toss everything together. Cook for another minute

Instead of heavy cream, the other option is to use regular milk or even dairy-free milk and then thicken it with flour or cornstarch. That being said, you’ll need to whisk the flour or cornstarch together with the milk before you add it to the sauce.