Spicy Broccoli Corn Pasta

Beginning the year with an easy pasta recipe. Roasted veggies and a spicy kick that can be adjusted to your palate. Good to make year-round with frozen broccoli and corn, it's full of flavor, and on the healthier side.

Originally posted in November 2017, the text has been updated to serve you better. The recipe remains the same. 

We love our easy pasta recipes, don't we? This is one of them. SO easy and delicious.

This is one of those recipes that saves the never-ending 'what should I make for dinner tonight' moment.

Through the years I have traded rich and creamy sauces for simple fresh ideas. Some chopped fresh tomatoes with basil and parmesan that I sometimes dress up a bit with limes and jalapeños with outstanding results.

This broccoli and corn pasta bowl turned out a real winner. Roasting the vegetables with olive oil, salt, and pepper makes them deeply flavored without losing any of the crunchiness.

Roasting vegetables

Roasting means baking in an oven at a medium/low temperature allowing the vegetables (or fruit) caramelize in their own natural sugars. This method concentrates flavor big time and makes a bland ingredient (zucchini for example) go to a whole new level of delicious.

Some foods have more sugar per se - butternut squash, carrots, beets, tomatoes - so roasting them really brings out a flavor that we don't even know was there.

It's the simplest way I know of avoiding boiling or steaming them which I find decreases their flavors. So, I always roast. I get the bonus of charred bits too. A win-win.

Types of pasta

Any short, dry pasta works really well here. Especially those with creases, like the fusilli here, because the sauce or vegetables get into those places and they flavor the pasta better than, for example, spaghetti.

So, my choice is fusilli first, macaroni second, and orecchiette third.

What is harissa?

The spicy part is given by this amazing North African condiment made with dried chiles and spices, that I keep in the refrigerator at all times. I even have a harissa powder.

You can easily make it yourself, check the homemade harissa recipe in the egg curry post.

Top tips

Pasta: you can use leftover pasta too (no sauce). 

Vegetables: broccoli and corn work wonderful, but other similar vegetables can be used, like cauliflower or zucchini. Use fresh corn when in season. It's a great way to use leftover grilled corn. 

Storing: this can be stored well wrapped in the refrigerator for a day or two and reheated. Freezing it is also an alternative, it keeps for a month. 

Variations: use a different spicy sauce, such as sriracha. Use a different cheese, such as goat cheese crumbled on top. Add bacon, crisp and crumbled on top. 

Other recipes you might like:
Easy Roasted Carrot Dip
Bacon Miso Carrot Pasta
Charred Asparagus, Corn, and Croutons Spaghetti
Crunchy Szechuan Pork and Carrots
Leftover Pasta Frittata

Let me know if you make this recipe! I’d love to hear what you think about it.
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