Baked Penne, Broccoli, and Ricotta

October 17, 2016(updated on March 31, 2022)

This baked penne, broccoli and ricotta dish is great for weeknights and potlucks. Leave the chicken sausage out to make it vegetarian. 

lagostina-pasta-pot

Happy National Pasta Day, friends! In honor of today’s holiday, I have a very tasty and easy pasta dish to share with you. 

broccoli-pasta-ingredients

I made this dish with the help of this gorgeous Lagostina Martellata Hammered Copper Pastaiola Set. 

chopped-broccoli

I’ve used this pot for all manner of blanching, steaming, and cooking by now (it also happens to work well as a canning pot for half pint jars!) and have taken to leaving it on the stove between uses, because I so enjoy seeing it there in all its gleaming glory.

blanching-broccoli

The recipe I’m sharing with you today puts this pot to work twice. First, I use it to blanch off a bunch of chopped broccoli. Once it’s cooked, I use the same water to cook the whole wheat penne.

cooked-broccoli

While the broccoli cooks, I browned some chicken sausage in a little olive oil and then drained it on a plate. Once the broccoli is bright green and tender, it gets drained and poured into the pan where the sausage had cooked.

From there, it’s a matter of building a sauce of pressed garlic and ricotta cheese. I wrap it up by adding the cooked sausage back in, along with the pasta, a healthy splash of pasta water, and a generous handful of grated parmesan cheese. Finally, it gets popped into the oven to melt the cheese and crisp the edges of the pasta. 

cooked-pasta

I love having a petite pasta pot like this one in my kitchen, because it allows me to stay at the stove, rather than dripping water between the sink and the stove. I’ve long had a larger pasta pot, but rarely pulled it out because it was just too much for my regular weeknight cooking. This one is just so much more functional for my household.

finished-broccoli-and-pasta

Disclosure: Lagostina sent me this pasta pot to use and write about. No additional compensation was provided. All opinions expressed are entirely my own. 

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Baked Penne, Broccoli, and Ricotta

Ingredients

  • 1 pound broccoli florets and stems, chopped
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1/2 pound chicken sausage
  • 12 ounces short whole wheat pasta
  • 1 cup ricotta cheese
  • 2 garlic cloves, pressed or minced
  • 3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

Instructions

  • Fill a pasta pot with water and bring it to a boil. Once it boils, salt the water well and add the broccoli. Cook for 3-4 minutes, until it turns a vivid green.
  • Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large pan or skillet over medium-high heat. Remove the chicken sausage from its casing and brown in the pan, using a spatula to break it up into crumbles. Once it is brown, use a slotted spoon and transfer the cooked pasta onto a paper towel-lined plate.
  • Tumble the cooked broccoli into the pan that had once held the sausage and reduce the heat to medium. Bring the water in the pasta pot back to a boil and add the pasta.
  • Add the garlic to the broccoli, along with the ricotta cheese and the drained sausage. Stir to combine.
  • When the pasta is finished cooking, drain it and pour it into the pan with the other ingredients. Stir to combine and add 1/2 cup of grated parmesan cheese, along with 1/2 cup of pasta cooking water.
  • Season with salt and pepper, and add more pasta water, if it is too thick.
  • Top with the remaining parmesan cheese. Slide the pan under the broiler to brown the top.

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448 thoughts on "Baked Penne, Broccoli, and Ricotta"

  • What a wonderful giveaway and a really beautiful pot. I would use it to steam vegetables of all kinds, but my favorite is green beans.

  • I would first use it for pasta but I have a feeling it would be used for many things. I would want to use it all the time because it is so beautiful.

  • I envision a nice mini shrimp boil to close out summer and maybe a nice butternut squash soup to welcome fall- having a copper backsplash behind my stove I would love this pot to complement it!

  • We have pasta every week because it’s my favorite food! Can’t wait to make this recipe and just drain the pasta right at the stove before adding it to the pot. Thanks for the chance to win it!

  • Lot o’ pasta happens at our house! Just yesterday I cooked up some Halloween noodles we had bought at Aldi…..the noodles were pumpkins and bats I think!

  • It’s a beautiful pot. I’d use it for blanching vegetables and for cooking pasta, but only when the kids aren’t home. When they are, we need a bigger pot!

    Enjoy Ireland – it’s a wonderful country and culture.

  • This pot isn’t just beautiful but also practical. I have purchased several items after reading about them in your posts and you haven’t disappointed me yet. My fourth burner pot and Opinel paring knives are personal favorites and I also give them as gifts. I would love the opportunity to cook my way through winter with this gorgeous pasta pot.

  • What a gorgeous pot! I would make my summer squash pasta in it first – Summer is over, but it’s good all year round 😉 Thank you for the wonderful giveaway
    Erin
    erinloves2run at gmail dot com

  • What a gorgeous pot! It would be the pride of my stove top and in nearly daily use. I’d use it to blanch and skin peaches and tomatoes for canning and cook pasta and vegetables for casseroles and other dishes. BTW, your barbecue sauce was a real hit in our house, thank you for the recipe.

  • Beautiful!

    I would use it for my next weekend project – labour intensive bolognese – a lot of work, but so worth it!

  • What a gorgeous pot! I understand why you leave it out to admire. I would blanch veggies and cook pasta in this pot. We enjoy pasta with a variety of toppings and this is just so handy.

  • I think I’d have to start with this recipe! But lots of veg and some pasta and oh my it would look so pretty on my stove!!

  • This pot is so delicious. When it’s not cooking up all different types of pasta, I think I would have to keep it on display:)

  • I blanch a lot of veggies for freezing, and currently have to chase them around the boiling water with my little strainer. Would LOVE one of these pots!

  • Looks perfect for dishes for two! And it’s so beautiful I’d certainly keep it out in a visible place when not in use!

  • Gorgeous pot! My husband and I tend to make 1/3-1/2 lb of pasta at a time, so it would be perfect for our purposes! My favorite pasta dish right now is with spinach and spicy sausage, but I also love gnocchi in tomato cream sauce!

  • Why, the first thing I would make would be your penne with broccoli and ricotta of course! Then I would move on to cooking just about everything I can in it (and I would can in it 😀 )

  • Steaming veggies for eating and freezing and for pasta. It is so much prettier than my enamel ware pot. Plus it would be an awesome birthday present for me!!

  • Monday is always “Meatless” at our home and usually involves pasta and this would make that much more fun! Thank you.

  • I’ve never had a pasta pot, so I would love to have this to try one! And I am all for leaving pots on the stove…look so pretty 🙂

  • I would use this for all matter of steaming.

    Certainly for pasta.

    But also for eggs. I’ve taken to hard cooking my eggs by steaming rather than boiling them. I’ve had much better results this way.

    I would also use it for steaming fish. I had some wonderful fish a friend did by steaming with herbs and a soy sauce mix. I really must get that recipe from her.

    Plus, the lovely copper would look awesome hanging from my pot rack with my copper bowls for whipping egg whites, my copper pan for chocolate and candy and my copper jam pot.

  • Wow that is gorgerous! I blanch a ton of veggies every week and I’d leave this beauty in a permanent position on my 6 burner range, aka Big Mama.

  • My word, hammered copper… Were it to find it’s way into my kitchen, besides being used all the time to cook up nourishing delights for my family, this pot would be “used” as something beautiful to lift the spirits of the sometimes-weary cook and bring an extra layer of pleasure to cooking.

  • That looks like a very handy size. I’d definitely use it for pasta and steaming veggies. Also could be good for slow-simmering a large batch of tomato sauce.

  • We are a pasta loving family and I gave away my old pasta pot because it was to big and not useful. This is a beautiful piece of cookware.

  • I can think of a million ways to use it! What a striking pan! We make a lot of fresh pasta and gnocchi and this looks like JUST the pan to make a good thing even better.

  • I’d use this pot to make pasta for my whole family. I love trying new pasta dishes, but don’t have the proper pots to do so.

  • I’d love to use it during our family’s traditional Italian Christmas Eve dinner for our linguini with clam sauce.

  • I think copper is a hue that I’ve never thought about in my kitchen, but I would leave that beauty out to admire! Your recipe does sound delicious!

  • The first thing I’d try is the broccoli-penned recipe you just shared! This pot is gorgeous and deserves to be kept out where it can be seen and used every day. I’d love it for those half pint canning jobs too.

  • With a pot that pretty, I’d use it all the time — making pasta, blanched veggies, steaming (veggies when I’m being good, potstickers when I’m not), soups, stews, chili, tomato sauce, pots of beans, poached fish, deep frying, making ricotta… you get the idea.

  • I would love to receive this pot. It looks fabulous and I would use it frequently. My family would love the tasty pasta dishes cooked up in it.

  • I would use this for dishes where the pasta cooks in the sauce for the last minute or to soak up flavor–no carrying everything over to the sink, just dump it into the neighboring pan!

  • This would replace my old pasta pot (bought some time in the late ’90s…). I’d make many a pot of pasta, but without the insert it looks like the perfect size for small batches of stock.

  • What a beautiful pot! I would use it for cooking pasta for sure- I have longed for a pot like this. Thank you for the amazing chance to win!

  • Pasta is not only healthy, but it is very economical, so we eat it in one form or another at least twice a week. My favorite is oven baked macaroni and cheese.

  • This is a beautiful addition to the kitchen, and I would use it for just about everything from pasta to rice pudding.

  • Oh wow. I would use this for pasta. It would be great to not have to carry the boiling hot water over to the sink to pour it out, and this is so pretty.

  • Yes! No more scooting over to the sink with a hot pot of water! I’m getting my pasta making skills back into form, so it’ll probably be some fettuccine alfredo first!

  • I gasped out loud at how lovely this pot is! I love that it can be used for canning half pints, I’m sure it would be pressed into service in that capacity in my kitchen.

  • Oh my goodness…I would use this pot for veggies, soup and pasta and just about anytime I thought I could get away with it! Even reheating last night leftovers! Love it!!

  • Absolutely gorgeous! I would use this pot to continue practicing a butternut squash pasta recipe I’ve been working on, and it would make a beautiful addition to the pictures I’m taking for my upcoming blog!

  • I would love to own this pot. I would use it to make all sorts of pasta dishes, as well as to steam vegetables. We are trying to eat more plant based foods and this would help us make the transition.

  • Beautiful! I’ve been looking for something like this, and would use it for all the pasta we eat! It would also be great for steaming veggies.

  • I think I would leave it on the stovetop because it is so pretty! I would definitely use it to make lots of pasta dinners.

  • I would first and foremost use it as an accessory for my newly remodeled kitchen! (Oh, and for steaming/blanching all the things. I only have a microwave steamer at the moment.)

  • Oh I need this pot! I’m never cooking more than a pound of pasta at a time and all of them are way too big. This would be perfect for all the bolognese I’m intending to make this winter!

  • It’s so pretty I’m pretty sure I would make any excuse to use it, boiling an egg, heating some cocoa…. Any. Excuse.