Friday, August 26, 2011

Penne with Balsalmic Butter Sauce and Roasted Broccoli

The other day I was looking for something relatively simple to make for dinner since I knew I'd have to go to the store for ingredients after work and THEN cook. I came across the recipe that I had pinned awhile back for Penne with Roasted Asparagus and Balsamic Butter.  I wasn't sure if Will (the husband) likes asparagus, so I decided to go with one of the variations listed and use broccoli instead. This was a simple and fairly quick meal to make and, as promised, I took a crappy cell phone pic to share.

Recipe: Penne with Roasted Broccoli and Balsamic Butter
Source: FoodandWine.com
Difficulty: Simple!

1 lb penne pasta
1 lb broccoli
1/2c + 2 Tblsp Balsamic Vinegar
1/2 tsp brown sugar
1 Tblsp Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper
1/4 lb butter (1 stick cut into pieces)
Grated Parmesan Cheese

Cut broccoli into florets and toss with olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Cook pasta as directed. In a small saucepan, simmer vinegar until reduced to about 3 tablespoons. Add brown sugar and salt and pepper to taste. Toss together balsamic sauce, pasta, broccoli, butter and cheese. Serve with more grated cheese.


Verdict: This was a good recipe and I got the "OK" to make it again from my picky, new recipe-phobic husband. My 17 month old daughter loved it as well. I, personally, thought it was a bit bland. I followed the recipe to a T this time, but next time I will add some fresh sliced garlic (probably about 3 cloves) when I roast the broccoli and try to cut down the butter a bit. A whole stick of butter is a lot. Especially when the dish is served with Semolina bread spread with more butter. I would also add some red pepper flakes. I thought the vinegar sauce could be a bit tangier as well. I'm not sure how to fix that though- besides maybe adding a few splashes of balsamic at the end.

Due to the impending hurricane, I'm not sure I'll be able to get any new recipes in this weekend. I'm hoping to try something new since we'll be stuck inside- but that all depends on whether or not we lose power.

Stay dry everyone!

Follow me on Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/kh9107/

2 comments:

  1. Sounds good...I think I would like some garlic (and the asparagus) too.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yummy! You've made me very interested in this pinterest thing too, I might need to check it out!

    ReplyDelete