Orecchiette with Sausage and Broccoli
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Packed with flavor and easy to make, this orecchiette with sausage and broccoli is a longtime favorite—the whole family gobbles it up, veggies and all!
Sometimes it seems impossible to make a meal that pleases the whole family. What one child happily eats, the other one suddenly isn’t “in the mood for.” But every once in a while, I come across a recipe that everyone loves, 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.
“My whole family loves this (even my 5 year old who doesn’t typically like pasta). It’s so nice to have an easy go-to meal for the middle of the week that my small children get excited about and so does my husband. Thank you!!”
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.
- Italian sausage is a great ingredient to have on hand for weeknight dinners. Not only is it quick and easy to cook, but it’s also flavored with a variety of aromatics, herbs and spices, such as garlic and fennel, which add depth and complexity to pasta dishes without the need for a lot of additional seasoning. This makes it an easy and convenient way to add flavor to pasta dishes, such as baked ziti and lasagna. 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.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1: Cook the pasta. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil—it should taste like the sea. Add the orecchiette and cook until al dente.
Step 2: Brown the sausage. Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the sausage and cook, breaking it up with a spoon, until lightly browned, 5 to 6 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute more.
Step 3: Cook the broccoli. Add the remaining 4 tablespoons of olive oil along with the broccoli, chicken broth, salt, and red pepper flakes. Cook, stirring frequently, until the broccoli is tender-crisp, 3 to 4 minutes.
Step 4: Enrich the sauce. Stir in the butter until melted, then simmer for a few minutes to reduce and concentrate the sauce.
Step 5: Toss it all together. Add the sausage and broccoli mixture to the drained pasta and toss well, along with half of the grated cheese.
Step 6: Serve. Transfer the pasta to a serving bowl or individual bowls and top with the remaining grated cheese. Enjoy!
Video Tutorial
More Italian Pasta Dishes You’ll Love
Orecchiette with Sausage and Broccoli
Ingredients
- 16 oz orecchiette
- 5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
- 1 lb sweet or spicy Italian sausage, removed from casings
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 8 oz chicken broth
- 1 lb broccoli florets
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- ½ 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 to 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 to 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.
Notes
Nutrition Information
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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Good. Used tortellini just bc that’s what I had. My pickey eater enjoyed.
Oops! forgot the stars. This recipe is easy and delicious!
I made this dish last night and it was delicious. Your version is so good. I tried the original once a long time ago which I think cooked broccoli florets with the pasta and it was a mess. Yours made a sauce and was easier and better.
I never thought I’d say this but we didn’t have enough broccoli! I had over a pound but after I cut the stems off and cut into florets it wasn’t enough (was not a pound then). So my question is how can I add more broccoli when I heat the leftovers so that I incorporate it into the pasta but don’t overcook the leftovers when I heat them. Thanks for this delicious recipe.
Jane
Hi Jane, So glad you liked it! To add more broccoli, I’d suggest cooking it separately (steaming, roasting and sauteeing would all work) and then adding it to the pasta once the dish is reheated.
Simple ingredients yet packed with flavor, delicious dinner. My 5 year old picky toddler loved it, the first quiet meal in a long time because she loved eating the “hat noodles”. The only change, we used cauliflower instead of broccoli – it’s on the dinner rotation schedule now!
Simple and tasty, like everything I’ve tried from your cookbook and this website. One of my neighbours is a picky eater, and he devoured this. His wife could not believe it!
Family approved. Everyone went for 2nds. They asked me to add it to my recipe book and make it again. I followed recipe as written. No changes. Thank you
Definitely a Winner and a New Addition to our Dinner Rotation! Thank you so much for the recipe! After having it the first time I cooked this dish, I opted for our local store’s ground Italian sausage (Mild) which unfortunately, was a big mistake as the sausage didn’t have much flavor as I could tell while cooking it ;-( The next time I made this dish, I made sure we used Johnsonville Sweet Italian Sausage and I even added in a sprinkle of fennel while browning it! Night and Day difference on the type of sausage as far as flavors go! In addition, just for our tastes, I tweaked a few things just for our tastes that I wanted to share. For just 2 people, I cut the recipe in half except I kept the full 1/2 cup of cheese because we are cheese lovers 😉 In addition, when adding the garlic, I also added 2 teaspoons of black pepper *blooming it in the olive oil (What an Amazing “Pop” Black Pepper adds when bloomed! I learned this from making your Cacio E Pepe recipe! At the end, because I added more cheese than your recipe called for, I added 2 Tablespoons of Pasta water to keep it moist – off setting the additional cheese. Again, thank you for your amazing recipes!
I am blown away with how delicious this simple recipe tastes. Totally delicious. Thank you!!!
Hi Jenn, Is it possible to substitute frozen broccoli? Thank you so much.
Sure – just keep in mind that it’s already cooked so you just need to warm it through. Enjoy!
Recipe calls for way too much pasta. I cut to about 10oz and it was much better.