This roasted broccoli and bacon orecchiette is cozy, savory, and full of flavor. Oven-roasted broccoli, crispy bacon, and sautéed onions come together in a creamy tomato garlic sauce that clings perfectly to little orecchiette pasta shells. Finished with a generous sprinkle of parmesan, it’s simple comfort food with a gourmet twist.
This is an easy recipe to make but it tastes like a restaurant pasta dish. The sauce is full of flavor from the onions, bacon, garlic, white wine, tomato, herbs and a splash of cream. Orecchiette is the perfect pasta to serve this with because the sauce coats each of the little cups. If you don’t have it though, you can serve with any kind of pasta and it will still taste great.
You could also add some grilled shrimp or chicken to this if you wanted to add more protein. It felt like full meal to me even without that though. I love roasting the broccoli in the oven here to get more flavor and a bit of browning on it, but if you are in hurry you could skip that and steam it or add it with the onions and saute it. Check out the rest of my tasty pasta recipes too!
Roasted Broccoli and Bacon Orecchiette
Ingredients
- 4 servings orecchiette about 9 oz
- 1 package bacon diced
- 1 medium onion sliced thinly
- 8 garlic cloves minced
- 1 small head broccoli cut into florets
- olive oil and salt for roasted the broccoli
- 1 cup dry white wine
- 3 tbsp tomato paste
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp dried italian seasoning
- 1/4 cup heavy cream more or less to your taste
- grated parmesan for topping
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- If you are going to roast the broccoli, heat the oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with foil. Add the broccoli and toss with 1 tbsp olive oil and a sprinkle of salt.
- Roast for 30-40 minutes, stirring around half way through, until the broccoli is getting some browning. Remove and cool until ready to use.
- Dice the bacon and add it to a heavy duty deep skillet. Cook over low heat, until it renders its fat and gets crispy. Using a slotted spoon, move it to drain on paper towels. Remove all but 1 tbsp of bacon from the pan. Heat the water for your pasta and add it.
- Heat the bacon fat with 1 tbsp olive oil over medium heat. Add in the onion and garlic (and broccoli if not roasting) and season with salt and pepper. Sauté for few minutes then add the wine and allow it simmer until reduced by half. Add the tomato paste, herbs, cream and a little pasta water if needed to thin the sauce a little.
- Drain the pasta and it, the broccoli, and the bacon to the pan. Toss everything and cook until the sauce has thickened a little. Serve in bowls, topped with grated parmesan.