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Loved this recipe. Very quick & easy to make. I even added shrimp to mine! I’ll be adding this one to the week night menu again!
Amgelica
Sometimes my favorite blog recipes are the ones that I don’t make for the blog.
This is one of those times. The tang of the tomatoes, the chewy whole wheat pasta, the tender-crisp baby broccoli, the creamy melted feta + the firm crumbly feta, plus the freshness of lemon, basil, and pesto. I mean, this is the whole flavor, color, texture, and nutritional package. AND 20 MINUTES. Read it and weep. Er, happy weep.
I made this last Sunday night on a whim, when what I had really wanted for dinner was a frozen pizza but come to find out we had eaten all 47 of our frozen pizzas. Hmmph. Bjork suggested ordering a pizza like the good husband that he is ❤, but a) I couldn’t wait that long and b) I wanted something that had a tiny bit of redeeming nutritional value. For us, ordering a pizza means adding a large order of cheesy breadsticks means food bliss dipped in marinara means zero self control in the best/worst way possible.
So in order to avoid the pizza situation, the emotional roller coaster that comes along with being HUNGRY RIGHT NOW, I searched the cabinets for some quick dinner ingredients. Which can always be a little interesting, if your kitchen is anything like mine. Three boxes of the same pasta, half used jars of things, half of a lemon in a baggie in the fridge, that sort of thing.
HOW TO MAKE OUR LEMON PESTO PENNE:
Luckily I had bought a little bunch of baby broccoli and never used it before we left for vacation, and by some miracle, it was still crunchy after hanging out in the fridge for a week while we roasted in the sun. Judge me. I dare you.
Luckily also I have a storehouse of pasta in which I found a half used bag of whole wheat penne pasta. Thank you, self, for being scrappy.
And to add to my dinner luck, we also just got a Costco membership, and during one of my recent trips I loaded up on mass amounts of things I NEEDED like Mediterranean jarred foods because: saaaalty. Kalamata olives, artichokes, and oven roasted tomatoes galore. We should be good to go for the next 18 years.
I opened the fridge looking for inspo and that brand new, barely used, extra jumbo jar of oven roasted tomatoes stared me right in the face. It was like the food universe was speaking to me. ALL THE SIGNS.
Again with the impromptu kitchen findings: a half of a lemon. a little bit of feta cheese. an open jar of pesto.
BAM. No frozen pizza, no delivery pizza (but just you wait – Friday’s a-comin) and a healthy homemade bright and colorful vegetarian dinner on the table in 20 minutes. WIN WIN WIN! So there we sit, eating double servings of this simple and quick lemon pesto penne, and Bjork is mouthing the words “this is the best pasta you’ve ever made” but I can’t even hear him because my face is buried in tangy oven roasted tomatoes and crunchy broccoli and chewy pasta. Bjork’s memory for food isn’t quite the steel trap that mine is, and I’m think he miiiight have forgotten about the Healthy Fettuccine Alfredo and also the San Marzano Pasta eFagioli, but I’ll take what I can get.
I made this on Sunday, it was a major win on all levels, so I made it again on Monday with a few extras like fresh basil and fresher baby broccoli. And I might make it again tonight. I think 20 Minute Lemon Pesto Penne tunnel vision is what they call it. End of story.
20-Minute Lemon Pesto Penne
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
Description
This 20 Minute Lemon Pesto Penne is my husband’s favorite pasta! Baby broccoli, oven roasted tomatoes, and fresh lemon and basil.
Ingredients
- 8 ounces whole wheat penne
- 2 cups baby broccoli
- 1 cup oven roasted tomatoes (I used Kirkland brand and rinsed excess oil)
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic (optional)
- 1/4 cup pesto
- 1/4 cup feta cheese
- juice of 1/2 lemon
- fresh basil, cut into ribbons
Instructions
- Cook the penne according to package directions. Add the baby broccoli to the pot of boiling water for the last 1-2 minutes of cooking. It should turn bright green. Drain and return to the pan over medium high heat.
- Add the tomatoes and garlic to the pan with the pasta and baby broccoli; saute 1-2 minutes or until fragrant. Add the pesto, half of the feta, and the lemon juice. Toss in the pan until well combined. Remove from heat and add the basil. Sprinkle with remaining feta before serving.
Notes
You could also use regular broccoli, broccolini, or broccoli rabe (all have different flavors and textures but I think they could all work).
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 35
- Category: Dinner
- Cuisine: Italian
Keywords: lemon pesto penne, penne pasta, pesto pasta
This made a very quick and delicious summer meal! Roasted our garden tomatoes quickly instead of jarred, and used some fresh dill pesto we had on hand. Was a hit!
This is a staple at our house! I can almost never find baby broccoli in the store, so I just use regular broccoli and it works too!
Thank you!
I don’t have a costco membership and can’t find the oven roasted tomatoes elsewhere. How can I make them?
Has anyone actually made this recipe?
Do you think it would still come out well if I used fresh cherry tomatoes cut into halves instead of sundried tomato? I was thinking of adding the fresh tomatoes to the pan with the garlic, and then keeping the rest the same after that 🙂
Yes, using fresh tomatoes should work just fine!
i love italian food! check some recipes here https://cooking-green.com
The video says sun dried tomatoes but your ingredient list says roasted tomatoes. I’m just curious which one you intended it to be? I made this tonight using roasted tomatoes and it was good, I added olives and will happily try it again but maybe with the sun dried tomatoes 😃
Either will work here, but the oven roasted tomatoes listed in the recipe were very similar to sun-dried tomatoes for us. 🙂
I found this recipe during the pandemic, so I made it with what I could get my hands on — pesto, frozen broccoli, penne, feta and roasted tomatoes. It was delicious! Not a substitute for pizza, mind you … but it will definitely be in our regular rotation!
Glad you enjoyed the pasta, Miranda!
My husband doesn’t like feta can I use fresh mozerella or Parmesan? And I fi made it earlier for dinner tonight how do I reheat it?
Sure! We think Parmesan cheese would be yummy here. You could reheat leftovers in a skillet or in the microwave. Enjoy, Dhara!
Could not find oven roasted tomatoes anywhere!!! Not even Costcos! I used sun-dried tomatoes instead. Dish came out great! My husband loved it!
So happy to hear this, Jade!
I used Bella San Luci sundried tomatoes that come in a bag that you get in the produce section and they worked really well.
Sounds delicious!
I made this tonight! I love, love, loved it! I used bow tie pasta instead of penne since I didn’t have any on hand. I also used canned sundried tomatoes. It tasted like a pasta version of Starbuck’s tomato and mozzarella panini. <3 I’ll definitely make this again.
Your ingredients say “oven roasted tomatoes” so I scoured the grocery store looking for whatever that was LOL then came back and watched your video which says sun dried. Lol big difference! Excited to try this tonight!
Can you eat this cold?
Definitely!
I used Bella sun-dried tomatoes in oil with herbs, used the oil in it for flavor. Topped with toasted walnuts. Delicious!
Loved this recipe. Very quick & easy to make. I even added shrimp to mine! I’ll be adding this one to the week night menu again!
Love anything and everything Lemon.
Must try!
this is really good thanks for the recipe
Hi! Excited to make this recipe tomorrow. Are oven roasted tomatoes and sun-dried tomatoes the same thing? If not is there a substitute for it? I can’t find oven roasted tomatoes at my grocery store. Thanks!
Not the same thing, but sun-dried could work!
It’s been a few years since you posted this, but after I made it for the 5000th time tonight, I felt obligated to leave a much overdue thank you for this recipe.
It is perfect in every way — tasty (but in a simple, cacio e pepe way that never gets old), comforting but not too heavy, great for leftover lunches, and so easy.
My only fuss is, 5000x later, I still haven’t learned I wish I would’ve used a larger pot every time 🙂
This was such a good dish! We took some out for our vegetarian daughter and added chicken for two of us. We’ll make this again!
This was delicious and will becoming a regular part of the quick, weeknight meal rotation here. Due to lack of availability here in Australia I replaced the oven roasted tomatoes with semi-sundried tomatoes. Due to preference I used a couple of handfuls of baby spinach instead of baby broccoli.
Are sundried tomato’s replaces by oven roasted?
Which pesto did you use? Can you share recipe for pesto without nuts? My kids have but allergy
So tasty and super easy!
Husband and I must be gluttons because I doubled the recipe and only ended up with 4 servings (albeit the first 2 servings were very generous).
Substitutions and changes: I made this with regular broccoli chopped small, instead of baby broc. Oven-roasted my own tomatoes (salt & pepper, olive oil, 320 degrees on convection bake for 60 minutes). Made my own pesto and used ~3/4 cup for my doubled recipe. Excluded feta.