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Orecchiette with Sausage and Broccoli
This orecchiette pasta dish is packed with flavor and quick to make — and the whole family gobbles it up, broccoli and all.
Sometimes it seems impossible to make a meal the whole family loves: what one child happily eats, the other one is “not in the mood for.” But every once in a while, I come upon a recipe that everyone clamors for, like this orecchiette pasta dish adapted from Lidia’s Italian Table by Lidia Bastianich. Not only is it quick and easy to make — 25 minutes tops — but the whole family devours it, broccoli and all.
What you’ll need to make orecchiette with Sausage & Broccoli
Orecchiette is named for its shape, which resembles a small ear (the Italian word orecchiette means small ear). If you can’t find it, it’s fine to substitute another pasta, like farfalle or fusilli.
Buy bulk sausage, or sausage meat without the casing, if possible (it’s often easy to find around holiday season as it’s used in stuffing recipes). Otherwise, just squeeze the sausage meat out of the casing.
Pecorino Romano is a hard, salty, and pungent Italian cheese made from sheep’s milk. It’s readily available in grated form in the cheese section of most large supermarkets but if you can’t find it, it’s fine to substitute Parmigiano Reggiano.
How to make orecchiette with Sausage & Broccoli
Begin by cooking the pasta.
Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a large sauté pan and add the sausage.
Cook, breaking the meat up with a spoon, until the sausage starts to brown, 5-6 minutes.
Add the garlic and cook a minute more.
Add the remaining 4 tablespoons of olive oil, broccoli, chicken broth, salt and red pepper flakes. Cook, stirring frequently, until the broccoli is tender-crisp, 3-4 minutes.
Stir in the butter until melted and simmer for a few minutes to reduce and concentrate the sauce.
Add the sausage and broccoli mixture to the drained pasta and toss well, along with half of the grated cheese.
Transfer the pasta to a serving bowl or individual bowls and top with the remaining grated cheese.
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Orecchiette with Sausage and Broccoli
This orecchiette pasta dish is packed with flavor and quick to make — and the whole family gobbles it up, broccoli and all.
Ingredients
- 1 pound orecchiette
- 5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
- 1 pound sweet or spicy Italian sausage, removed from casings
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1 pound broccoli florets
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup freshly grated Pecorino Romano
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the orecchiette and cook according to package instructions.
- Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil over medium high heat. Crumble the sausage into the skillet and cook, breaking apart with a spoon, until lightly browned, 5-6 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium and add the garlic; cook for 1 minute more.
- Add the remaining 4 tablespoons of olive oil, chicken broth, broccoli, salt and red pepper flakes. Cook, stirring frequently and scraping the bottom of the pan to release the flavorful brown bits, until the broccoli is tender-crisp, 3-4 minutes. Stir in the butter until melted and simmer for a few minutes to reduce and concentrate the sauce.
- Drain the pasta well and place back in the pasta pot. Add the sausage and broccoli mixture, along with half of the cheese, and toss to blend. Taste and adjust seasoning. Transfer to a serving platter or individual bowls and pass the remaining grated cheese at the table.
- Freezer-Friendly Instructions: This dish can be frozen for up to 3 months and reheated on the stovetop. If the dish has dried out a bit in the freezer, add a little water or broth while reheating. Just take care only to reheat it and not continue to cook it.
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (6 servings)
- Calories: 624
- Fat: 28 g
- Saturated fat: 10 g
- Carbohydrates: 64 g
- Sugar: 3 g
- Fiber: 2 g
- Protein: 29 g
- Sodium: 692 mg
- Cholesterol: 51 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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I reviewed this recipe previously and shared with my daughter. Her husband and two sons ask for this weekly. She began doubling the sauce ingredients with great results. Just a FYI.
Simple to make and delicious…..I covered the pan a bit to steam the broccoli.
This is delicious and would be great to use as a drop off meal for a family.
I’ve made this twice recently, and it is so easy and soooo good! The leftovers are also good.
My mother makes a recipe very similar to this, but she uses bacon instead of sausage and cavatelli instead of orecchiette and much more butter and all of the bacon grease. It’s been my favorite since I was little. This took me right back to my childhood.
We have always enjoyed every recipe we have ever made by Jenn. Well this one was delicious to taste we have to say it did not feel very healthy. The sausage itself puts out enough fat so to add four more tablespoons of olive oil in addition to three more tablespoons of butter was just over the top for us. Again it tasted really good and maybe if we had kids it might be a way to get them to eat broccoli but would you like broccoli for broccoli sake.
Absolutely delicious and quick. Will be in regular rotation at my house.
Looks and tastes amazing.
FAAAAAAAAAAAAABULOUS recipe!!!! This is in REGULAR rotation! Without question I love it the most exactly as written. Two variations – to increase veggie intake we doubled up broccoli, deliberately substitute roasted spaghetti squash in place of pasta, and it’s fantastic!! Based on other reviews, will try with ground turkey tonight. Thank you so much for bringing such delicious recipes to us Jennifer!
Absolutely loved this and so did my family! I got a little scared when I realized my box of orecchiette was only 12 oz, so I reduced the broccoli to 5 cups, kept every thing else the same. Used sweet Italian sausage. I have been wanting to make this for a while and so glad I did! Thanks for the amazing recipe.
Easy, excellent recipe. A family favorite.
Loved this! Did not need extra olive oil after the first tblspn as the pork meat had plenty of liquid. Added 3 cups of arugula after the broccoli and sausage were added to the pasta to boost the green content and next time will add in some spinach. Thank you so much Jenn for consistently tasty recipes!
I’ve made this several times and it’s always delicious and a hit with my family. Well tonight I’m out of olive oil, can vegetable oil or grape seed oil be a substitute? Thanks!
Yes either will work. 🙂
OMG best pasta sausage broccoli recipe ever tasted!
Thanks for this recipe! I used pre-cooked chicken sausage and broccoli, and this dish was delicious!
Delicious as always, Jenn!! You truly have perfect recipes.
We LOVED this! Not too salty. I added extra broth (full can) and hence pepper, butter and garlic because the fam loves the extra sauce for bread.
Will make this again and I adore the freezer directions.
What a fantastically easy weeknight recipe. This is definitely going into the regular rotation. My family looked at me skeptically as I served the meal to them but they positively gushed. The only thing I did differently from the recipe is I cooked the orecchiette the night before serving. Someone had put the sausage in the freezer so it wasn’t available when I needed it. Doh! Oh well, I made the white chicken chili from Once Upon a Chef instead–also very delicious.
Did NOT disappoint!
I have made this dozens of times because it is my kids’ favorite recipe (my 7-year-old daughter will tell you her favorite food is orecchiette because of it) AND it is so quick and easy to make AND I love it too! I use frozen broccoli florets and it turns out great. Can’t rave about this one enough.
Not sure why I waited so long to try this dish. So delicious and EASY!!!! Thanks again for another winner of a recipe!!! This one will be a “make again” for sure. From, one of your biggest fans. 😊
Easy and delicious. Thank you for sharing this awesome recipe.
Fabulous easy meal. I’ve made it several times. I use a high quality hot Italian turkey sausage and it tasted every bit as good as traditional sausage. Its very rich so I don’t add the butter at then end. We finish all the broccoli and usually have a portion of pasta & sausage leftover. I heat it up for lunch with a little spinach and its delicious leftover.
I love this recipe….my whole family loves it. It’s the second time I doing this recipe, this time I didn’t have chicken broth on hand so I used the pasta water, and it was just as delicious.
I don’t know why it has taken me so long to write a review on this recipe. This recipe is absolutely delicious and is definitely one of our family favorites. And a bonus that it’s a quick cook as well so that we can make it often!
This surprises me with how good it is every time I make it. The sauce always turns out perfectly creamy and flavourful, and the broccoli is the perfect medium to sop it up. Red pepper flakes are just what this dish needs. A perfect balance of brightness, sweetness, saltiness, spiciness and umami; plus, this food has an undeniable comfort-food quality despite being having a decent amount of veggies in it. A very very good dish, one of my favourites.
I love this recipe and make it often. I love using the orecchiette but have had an issue with the pasta sticking together in stacks and not cooking all the way through. What can I do to prevent pasta doing this?
Hi Billie, I find that happens sometimes too. You could use a different shape pasta if you find that it’s really problematic for you or when you add the pasta to the pot, try pouring them into your hands and letting them run through into the water, instead of dumping them in all at once. Also, stir them often. Hope that helps!
This was sooo good and EASY…the easiest IMO, of all your main course meals!!! I used Italian Turkey sausage cuz my hubby is trying to get some weight off. IF left up to ME I wanted the real thing, hot Italian sausage!! BUT this is really tasty with the Turkey sausage!! This will be a regular dish from now on! Everything I make from you Jenn is fantastic!
Thanks so much for sharing your gift!
Made this many times. A huge favorite with the family. Like some of your other readers I started to briefly microwave the broccoli before adding to the pan. In my experience it took a lot longer than 3-4 minutes to get to the crisp tender stage if I didn’t. Maybe my idea of crisp tender is just different than others. Either way a delicious dish! Thank you.
Made it again last night.
So easy and our 10 month old loves it!
Delicious!! I used microwave steamed broccoli and just blotted with paper towel to get out excess moisture before adding to skillet. I used a box of 12 ounce pasta but 1.2 lb sausage and poured in extra chicken broth but reduced. This was so, so good. Adding to my meal rotation!
So easy and yummy! We all loved it.
As I didn’t have chicken broth at hand, I used vegetable broth instead, a perfect alternative.
For my husband, I added some cream at the end of the cooking process, but it’s really no must.
I, personally, prefer the lighter version without.
So easy and delicious! Healthier than most pasta dishes – no cream sauce, but you don’t even miss it. If watching calories, cut the amount of pasta in half, it’s still wonderful. Love this with Kirkland’s mild Italian Sausage from Costco. Along with the broccoli, add chopped red and yellow peppers for additional color, flavor, and nutrition.
Outstanding! One of my husband’s favourites. We make the full recipe and freeze half, as there’s just two of us. Leftovers warm beautifully by adding a bit of chicken stock. We often tweak recipes to our taste; however, this one we make as written and have made it several times over. Absolutely delicious!
Perfect quick and easy dinner for a family of 5 on the go! Delicious!
This is a delicious recipe ! I’ve made it several times this winter. I had always wanted to try orecchiette in a recipe and loved it. My go to for bulk sausage is RB Rice. None better. Thanks for a new favorite.
This is our go-to weeknight meal, so quick, easy and yet still flavorful. The only change is that we make this with Italian ground turkey to keep it on the lighter side. My husband is so picky with recipes I try from different websites, they never seem to have enough flavor. I am so thankful we found your recipes, every single recipe we try is a hit. Thank you for helping me discover great food!
I like this recipe. I subbed out the pasta for chickpea pasta because that’s all I had on hand at the time. This recipe makes it easy to eat broccoli because of the cheese and italian sausage. Yummy.
I wish I knew what “Chickpea pasta” was, it sounds YUM, Rose!!
The brand we use is called Banza and it is quite good. I get it at Costco.
I have added this pasta dish to my favorite go to recipes. Not only kid friendly but my husband likes it too! I love cooking with orecchiette. My first time years ago was a dish with meaty chicken thighs in a red sauce with this pasta. Lost the recipe…. Would love more recipes using orecchiette!
This is simply delicate. The orecchiette is perfect because it’s like a mini swimming pool of deliciousness. We love hot sausage. This recipe of off the charts as observed by the many reviewers.
This is a perfect weeknight meal! It’s quick, easy, and absolutely delicious! Just add salad and bread and dinner is done. Also, clean up is pretty quick.
I have made this so many times, it’s memorized. So easy to put together. Plus you can add other veggies as well.
I love how flavorful this dish is! The pasta soaks up all of the yummy sauce and is amazing. So so good! Your recipes are the only ones I trust “blindly”. I know they are going to taste good, so I don’t mind testing them out on company even if I’ve never made it before. Thank you!
Love this recipe! Didn’t have broccoli so I used kale. It would be good with spinach too. Making it with broccoli tonight! My husband thought it was a restaurant quality dinner!