Cavatelli and Broccoli

This is a very good dish if you make it the right way. I think other members have commented on this, but i'll reiterate. You have to put (depending on how much you make, I usually make it with 2 bags of cavatellis) about a regular coffee mug size amount of the salted pasta water into the broccoli pan, then drain the pasta, then put the pasta into the pan with the broccoli and let it cook for a few more minutes. I guarantee this will make it taste a whole lot better, since when the cavatelli's cook in the broccoli for a bit they soak up the flavor. Hope this helps!

I agree with majority.. Bland... secret is salt. This is an old Italian dish called Aglio e Olio. This was what they made when pantry was bare and on Fridays when Catholics couldn't eat meat. My Italians friends told me you have to add at least 1/4 cup of salt in pasta water to infuse it into pasta.. and believe me you would never know that's how much you put in but the flavor will be there and most of that is going done the drain with our water. Other than that it was tasty. I decreased the red pepper flakes to 1/4 tsp and put in with garlic and oil to get the full effect of the pepper.

Yum--the flavors I grew up with! With no heavy sauces or seasonings, this is simple, fresh and just plain delicious. I didn't measure, just used "a little of this and a little of that" to suit my tastes. While I served this with roast chicken, I could have eaten this all by itself.

This IS sort of bland, but I cooked the pasta in chicken broth and added the broccoli to that the last few minutes, then added the garlic and sauteed the whole concoction before adding Romano Parmesan and red pepper. For some reason, I could not stop eating this, so-- bland or not, I thought it was pretty good!! The cheese and red pepper really add something. Plus it is sooooo simple...I will make again.

This is so simple and so delicious and makes a great side dish. I did about a third of the recipe (1/2 lb. of pasta) and used a steam in bag of broccoli. I tossed everything together and topped it with parmesan cheese. It could have been a meal all in itself.

i make cavatelli aglio e olio all the time. My recipe calls for salted pasta water, sliced black olives, anchovies and more garlic than this does. Made this recipe, and was a tad bland for me- but some people may like less oomph than I do. With my additions, I'd give it five stars- but as is, it's a four.

I have been making this for years... to make it even simplier-blanch the broccoli in salted water and remove with a slotted spoon-then cook your pasta in the same water. Adds more taste to the pasta and eliminates the need to start a whole new pot of boiling water. Always remember to use enough salt and add some pasta water to the broccoli mixture with the pasta.

I agree with most... I use extra salt in the water when cooking the cavatelli (I use a large palm full) which will give the dish flavor. I cook the pepper flakes in with the garlic and oil to infuse the flavor into the oil. I also add extra parmesan because we love it that way! Great easy recipe.

I make something very similar to this but I add some chicken stock and about 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese at the end to make a slightly creamy sauce. Excellent dish... healthy, easy, and fast. You can add leftover shredded chicken too to make it a heartier meal

If you make this as written you will be disappointed as it will essentially be plain pasta with broccoli and garlic. Definitely follow the advice of others and heavily salt your pasta water and add a ladelful or 2 to the mix when combining the broccoli and pasta. A pat of butter adds a little richness, definitely use more parmesan too! With the changes you'll have a nice quick and easy weeknight pasta dish.

My Mom made this often growing up....she always added bacon...cook it first and then saute your garlic ...add blanched broccoli and mix in the cooked pasta let flavors combine....excellent combo

Great recipe, pretty much right off the back of the Celantano cavatelli bag! Except they called for only 12 oz. of cavatelli and 2 bunches of broccoli, but I would say that Linda probably has it right - with more pasta and broccoli, it would be a little less oily, which was my only complaint about Celantano's recipe. I also think it would be good with a little pasta water thrown in to diffuse the oil. Salt is key, don't skimp.

I make this recipe at least once a month. My grandson, who is 9, loves it. It is simple enough for him to make (with a little help from me.) I also had a little chicken broth to the broccoli in the pan. Yum!!

I thought it was good. I added extra garlic, black olives and green onion during the broccoli saute to add a little more flavor.

YUM!!! USED DREAMFIELDS ROTINI- ADDED 1/4 OF CUP OF SALT TO PASTA WATER AS SUGGESTED BY OTHERS... ADDED FROZEN TURKEY MEATBALLS FOR COMPLETE MEAL... VERY HEALTHY, VERY YUMMY!! VERY SIMPLE AND LITE.. TRY IT- YOU'LL LIKE IT...

We liked it; tossed it with baked chicken. Easy and quick.

Not only was this delicious, but a very FAST dish as well. It only took me about 35 minutes start to finish. I sauteed the garlic with the red pepper flakes as others suggested to make it more flavorful. What a great way to eat your broccoli. I will definitely be making this quite often.

Great flavor, with a little zip! I added the red pepper flakes to the oil when adding the garlic (rather than at the end), using only 1/2 tsp., and also added italian seasoning, basil, chicken seasoning, salt and pepper to the oil. I'll definately make it again! FYI - 1 1/2 c. dry pasta is about 3 cups.

This is a keeper. Very Good. Although, I didn't add all the salt it called for. I only added 1/2 tsp. and I also used Perorino Romano instead of Parmesan. End result: Yummy!!!

I sauteed some onions with the garlic in order to give this more flavor.

My Mother made this when I was growing up. The only difference is she made it with spaghetti not cavatelli and she used wayyyy more parmasan cheese. I make for my children today and love it. Comfort food at its best !!

For me, this worked in a pinch. I don't know that I would ever make it again though. I used it as a side dish to some pork ribs and therefore made less.

This was very good. I only gave it 4 stars because I did have to make several adjustments. Many of the other reviewers made similar comments. I used a good bit of salt (1/8 to 1/4 C.)in the water when boiling the pasta. I also added several cloves of garlic to the water for flavor. After boiling the pasta I saved about 2 cups of the water and used that to cook the broccoli. I quickly shocked the broccoli in ice water to keep it bright green. Put my drained broccoli and pasta into the pot together and added the cheese, oil and red pepper flakes. I did not add any additional salt. It was delicious!

I thought this was excellent! I used whole grain pasta to make it healthier, added a little bit more crushed red pepper and parmesan, and also a little bit of seasoning salt. I will definately be making this again and again and again! Thank you!

Delicious! I stuck to the recipe exactly and even though I thought it would be bland, it was very, very good. I would add more broccoli next time, though. It was heavy on the pasta.

This is a wonderful dish! After boiling, remove the broccoli from the water and use this water to boil your pasta in. This way you get some of the vitamins you lost in the boiling process of the brocolli infused into the pasta. I also added basil to my recipe and used grated Romano cheese instead of Parmesan. Wonderful! Next time, I'm going to try adding the red pepper and more salt to the pasta.

GREAT RECIPE !! I CHANGED A BIT OF IT. WHILE WARMING GARLIC ADD A TOUCH OF RED PEPPER FLAKES. ALSO ADD A CAN OF CHICKEN BROTH. COMES OUT FANTASTIC !!

Too bland even after I added more salt than the recipe to my pasta water & to season afterwards. It needs something else to it.

This was a healthy and simple tasting side dish. I use multigrain pasta to make it healthier. It's nothing I will be craving, but I would make it again.

This was very good. I too used the pasta water trick and added the red pepper flakes in with the oil and garlic. I shocked my broccoli in ice water to maintain the vibrant green color. Nice clean simple flavors. Thanks!

This was sooooooo good and super easy to make! My 2 1/2 year old absolutely loved it - the broccoli too! We have plenty of leftovers for school and work tomorrow!

i prefer using frozen broccoli

I used tortellini with this dish and added more garlic because we absolutely love it. Used lots more parm too. From one Linda M to another, I thank you for making my gang very happy tonight!

Very good recipe. Use the Celantino frozen cavatelli - will make this recipe! (all the photos shown from other reviewers don't look like they are using cavatelli pasta). I added a little chopped onion to the garlic and oil while cooking. Also added some fresh chopped basil at the very end. Great recipe for a quick dinner.

Very good. My husband loved it, and he usually is pretty picky! :) I thought the red pepper was a bit spicy, and would probably sprinkle it on at the end on individual servings instead of in the whole pot. (Just because I don't like spicy foods.) Thanks for sharing!

Actually made this with Gnocci and was really nice. I love brocolli in this dish.

I have been making this recipe for YEARS and came back to print it out again for my recipe box. The only thing I have added/changed is that I cook some italian sweet sausage up, slice it, and throw it into the mix. This is my family's favorite recipe, and we have it at least twice a month. My kids request that I make extra so they can bring it in for lunch the next day!

I've made this recipe for years with pasta shells and adding fresh lemon juice makes this dish outstanding.

Here's wha6t I did, cobbling together from the other comments... Bring chicken stock (about 2 qts) and about 1/4 cup of salt to a boil to blanch your broccoli. Get it to a boil, then submerge the broccoli for 2 minutes AT MOST. Remove it and shock it in cold/ice water. I usually separately cook a package of frozen chopped broccoli (cooked just enough that its not a brick anymore) to add to the mix later. DON'T DISCARD the water. Set the broccoli aside. Put 1 lb (2 if you're adventurous) of frozen cavatelli in the broccoli water. Bring to a boil, then boil for about 5-7 minutes (don't cook it till its floppy. It'll continue to cook while you prep the rest of the meal) Set aside. Heat 1/4 cup of olive oil in a frying pan. Add to that 3 (hugely heaping) T of minced garlic. Also add 1/4 to 1/2 C of chopped red onion. Sautee over low heat for maybe two minutes, then add the broccoli (and the previously frozen stuff) and sautee for another 4 minutes. Add 1 cup of the broccoli water (do this earlier if the broccoli or garlic is burning) and sautee. Sautee for 4 or 5 minutes. Add the pepper flakes. Or don't. It's already good by itself. Right before serving, add the parmesian cheese and toss. Enjoy

Simple flavors, easy preparation. I didn't really bother sticking with exact measurements on this one, just eyeballed everything and I really loved the end results. The flavors are classic and a great change from the typical pasta drowning in heavy red or white sauces. Thanks for sharing!

My husband and I really loved this! I used more garlic, some purple onion, and basil. I also used 1/3c oil and 1lb cavatelli. Excellent!

Wow! My family loved this recipe. My husband could not get enough of it. I took other's advice and made sure I added lots of salt to the pasta water and then put some pasta water into the broccoli pan with the drained pasta and cooked a few minutes longer. Great and simple recipe.

Let me just say WOW! This was super yummy! Even my super picky son loved it and asked if we could have this every night. LOL. I did add a little bit of bacon because my hubby wanted a little bit of meat in his pasta, but it would have been wonderful even without it! Thanks so much for sharing this recipe. Will be making again soon!

This was pretty good. I added a pat of butter to it for more flavor.

Very healthy. If I make this again, I won't follow the steps here. I'll just cook up some garlic and red pepper in olive oil, and toss it with cooked pasta that I've thrown broccoli into for the last 3-4 minutes of the pasta's recommended cooking time. Adding some spices, or cooking the pasta and broccoli with chicken stock may add some flavor.

Made this as a side dish for an Italian themed party. It was fantastic. Tasted awesome.

This was an easy and quick meal. I only used 1/4 C. of olive oil and added about a 1/3 C. of chicken broth. It does need a good bit of salt. I'm always looking for new recipes that use broccoli since my 4 year old loves it. He approved so we'll keep this one around.

This is a great recipe with some of the additions I read here. I didn't know exactly what cavatelli pasta looked like so I went to the following website for info.

Easy and delicious!

I already know this is a good recipe, although my ex mother in law cooked the broccoli in the heavily salted water and a fair bit of oil with the pasta for about the last 5 min. yummy, I've been dreaming of this & just went to the grocery yesterday with this recipe in mind. key is fresh grated parm as well

Was ok. A little bland, but quick and easy side dish.

I agree with the other reviewers about the lack of flavor and the need for salt. I've modified this recipe by using chicken broth instead. I also heavily season the broth with fresh garlic, crushed red pepper, and black pepper. Then I blanch the broccoli (I've also used broccoli rabe; it adds a whole new depth of flavor) in the broth, followed by cooking the cavatelli in the same broth... this seems to flavor each component nicely.

I really enjoyed this! The kids didn't much like it but thebroccoli tasted phenomenal, I think the blanching realy helped!

This is delicious. I ended up stir frying the broccoli because I wasn't paying attention and prepared it how I thought the directions would say. Reading is fundamental!

Great dinner. I added the red pepper flakes to the garlic and EVOO. It did need about 3/4 cup of chicken broth added to give it enough liquid for the pasta. My husband loved it and can't wait to take the leftovers for lunch.

Great quick recipe. I only had Shells, so I used that instead of the Cavatelli. Like a reviewer before me, I used lots more parm. cheese. Very good stuff :)

Good, simple recipe. My guests & i enjoyed this. Would make this again. The only thing i didn't do from the recipe is boiled the water (for blanching and pasta) with lots of salt. Something i just am of habbit of doing.

This is one of my favorite stand-by recipes! I use frozen broccoli instead of fresh, and cook it in chicken broth for extra flavor. Thank you for sharing!

This is fantastic even when it gets cold. No re-heating needed!

Simple, quick and healthy - lovely!

Wonderful dish! I too infused the oil with the pepper flakes and garlic. I also threw in onions, mushrooms and didn't blanch the broccoli, I just threw it in the garlic oil and after the pasta was done, tossed it in the pan and topped it off with parm. cheese. I paired this dish with the rotisserie chicken recipe on this site and it was just perfect since the balance of flavors (light+salty) was just right.

i made this last night - very tasty! the red pepper flakes really gave it a nice kick.

This was a good recipe. I added sauted onions and only used a small amount of the red pepper seeds. I also didn't have any fresh broccoli so i used frozen. Came out great.

Very good and very healthy. It was a big hit with my husband and I!

We loved this! I will definately make it again. Added a little more garlic and added mushrooms.

I wouldn't say this recipe was terrible, I just didn't think it had much flavor to it. If I were to make it again, I would definitely add more garlic and seasonings.

I cut this recipe to 4 servings, added extra red pepper flakes, used large (not jumbo) shells, then added some pieces of Garlic Chicken at the end. A great combination! As written, we'd give this 4 stars. A good non-meat entree.

An easy recipe but, as others have said, a bit on the bland side. I did add a bit of chicken stock to 'juice' it up a bit. Not the best, but certainly not the worst. The starchy cavatelli is a comfort food for sure!

I got compliments at a potluck. I used some of the past water as someone suggested.

Really good. My husband loved it and so did I. Will make this one often. Thanks!

I love this recipe! IT's so simple and easy. I prefer to use butter in place of the olive oil though, using just a little olive oil is needed though so that the butter doesn't burn.

I've made this a few times, and last night made it for my Italian in-laws (mind you, I'm not Italian!) My mother-in-law asked me for the recipe!

Love this recipe . Tastes just like local places here in NJ , I add a bit more pepper cause we like it spicy.

I wanted to like this... but... it was blah. It lacked all the flavor and dimension that it takes when you add sausage. I won't be making again - there's better recipes for this dish, which is one of my favorites.

Bland, bland, bland

This was a big hit with my 12 y/o son. He ate it down in no time and asked for seconds. I salted the water when cooking the pasta and thought it had plenty of taste. It's a definite keeper for our family!

This is a great quick meal. Note: Aglio e Olio means "garlic and oil" and means pasta with garlic and olive oil only.

This dish was flavorful, but had too much garlic and came out a bit oily.

Pretty good. I like the idea, but think it needs to be spruced up a bit. I added some black pepper and about a half tbsp. of butter, and that seemed to kick it up enough.

This recipe was delicious. I had been looking for a great recipe like this that I had had at an Italian restaurant. I finally found it with this recipe!

This came out good, very simple and easy. I did add some heavily salted water from the pasta as suggested and more olive oil at the end, the salt definitely helps perk things up. I will make it again when I'm in a quick pinch for dinner.

When I was looking for a "broccoli recipe" I wanted another way to cook my broccoli. I left out the pasta and just cooked the broccoli as written, I could only imagine that the pasta would be great in this, but it's for sure NOT needed!!!!

Delicious! I added some left over cut-up chicken pieces in with the garlic to saute. I added the macaroni and broccoli to the pan instead of a bowl to get all the flavor from the pan and mixed it altogether. Used coconut oil instead of olive oil (my preference). will cook this again.

Super lo-cal and still tasted great. Will make this again.

wow, wow I made for a side dish at first. It's good a main dish too. A great way to the kids to eat more broccoli.

Came out so amazing! Eyeballed the ingredients, & the only thing I changed was adding a bit of butter to fry. Took another reviewers suggestion to boil the cavatelli in the water that I boiled the broccoli in, great tip

Added more olive oil and cheese. I'm making it again and will add some chicken sausages with pepper flakes! yum...

Excellent, just really fatty with all of the olive oil

I did add Slivered Almonds to the dish and it was great!

I added some finely chopped mushrooms, used a different type of pasta (dry), cut the red pepper (my husband doesn't like it), and added some Tuscan seasoning. It was great! Will definitely make again.

I make this dish all the time, but I add more sliced garlic to the saute pan. After adding CHOPPED fresh broccoli, add one can of chicken broth. Also, add plenty of good grated cheese not Parmesan; i.e. locatelli. AND don't forget to add plenty of salt to the pasta water before adding the pasta (do not overcook it....al dente!!) Keep some cooked pasta water on the side to add to pasta if gets dry. That's the way you make it! You can also add some pepper flakes for a little ommp! This recipe is not Aglio e Olio...it is cavetelli and broccoli....aglio e olio is different.

I love this dish.I actually cook the cavatelli in vegetable broth to give it more flavor and it's delicious! I hope you guys try it!

Just as others said if you make this as recipe says it is very very bland. I m not good at creating my own dish so I follow recipes this I won’t make again

added cooked chicken and used less olive oil when cooking the garlic and broccoli together. made it into a main dish.

Delicious and simple without the heavy cream or butter!

I simplified the cooking process on this one. I just boiled the broccoli, drained, and then added minced bottled garlic and about 1 tablespoon of salt along with the olive oil. I let this mixture sit while I boiled the pasta. I think it is important to season the broccoli prior to mixing with the pasta, otherwise you end up with a bland combo. Also a key part in boiling any pasta is adding salt to the water in order to compliment the true flavor of the pasta. Next time I may add some sweet Italian sausage or sauted chicken along with the broccoli into to serve as more of a main course.

This was just alright. It tasted just like the separate ingredients instead of a cohesive dish. I used all the ingredients, followed all the directions, but it really never came together. Thanks for an interesting recipe to try.

This was a life-saver, as I had all the ingredients on hand and didn't have to make an extra trip to the grocery store! Followed the recipe except for two things: 1) Rather than draining the water from the broccoli, I took the broccoli out and reused the water to cook the pasta (wanted to save water, but may have also made the pasta more flavorful), and 2) I didn't measure the salt or red pepper flakes, just used a few dashes to my taste. I can't imagine using as much salt as some people have said you should. The olive oil, red pepper, and cheese add plenty of flavor. This is a simple, quick, and delicious meal.

This was a hit at my house. I read the remarks about putting the pasta water in the broccoi at the end so that the pasta could absorb some of the flavors. I was worried about this making the broccoli too mushy; not appealing at our house. I ended up cooing the broccoli in a big pot of salted water, removing the broccoli into the pan and cooking the pasta in the same salted water while the broccoli was sauteing. Worked for me and I wasted less water.