I have a not-so-secret love affair with pearl couscous. I find the texture to be absolutely delightful and since it's just pasta, it soaks up every bit of flavor around it. I love it in salads, as a base for roasted vegetables, and as a cheater risotto. The couscous works in a similar way to arborio rice in that the starch from the couscous creates a bit of creaminess. Add to that cheese and an easy broccoli pesto, this dish embodies comfort. Best of all, you can make an extra batch of the broccoli puree and have these melts for breakfast the next morning!
Like with most risottos, this broccoli pesto version has a few easy adaptions. A couple of my favorite versions: Baked barley risotto with the broccoli pesto and a cracked spelt risotto with kale pesto!
Risotto Base: These options take a bit longer but cracked spelt/farro or barley would work in place of the couscous. You could also go the more traditional route of arborio rice (which would make it gluten-free).
Vegan: Drop the mascarpone cheese and add 1/2 cup of white bean puree. You could also puree the broccoli mixture more to create a creamier texture without the cheese. I prefer the bean puree- it really helps with the creaminess.
Vegetable: Swap the broccoli out for cauliflower or greens (like kale or chard). You could also use romanesco if you see that as well.
When the weather cools, some of my favorite vegetables come back in season. Broccoli is just the beginning, but a great start. In general, I love roasting broccoli and it's a match made for pasta. Beyond this pasta dish, a few other ways that I enjoy roasted broccoli include:
Broccoli Soup with Ginger and Lemon
Roasted Broccoli Peanut Noodles
Broccoli Chickpea Bowls with Homemade Teriyaki
Thank you, Erin. I love your recipes because they are tasty, adaptable, and inspiring!
I made this recipe last night with broccolini and barley. It turned out great.
I didn't have a lot of time to make dinner, so I didn't make the pesto but just chopped and microwaved the broccolini and just stirred in the lemon juice, olive oil, almonds, and garlic.
For the barley, I added fresh tomatoes along with miso dissolved in hot water (didn't have broth). When it was done, I stirred in the broccolini, almonds, and pepitas (pumpkin seeds). The texture was chewy and crunchy, which everyone really liked.
Thanks again!
-gloria
I forgot to mention that I mixed equal parts white balsamic vinegar and water to replace the white wine (didn't have an open bottle) when cooking the 10-minute barley from Trader Joe's. The vinegar added a nice tang the way I envision the wine might, I see using a vinegar-water mixture in the future to replace white wine in recipes.
Plus the miso dissolved in water instead of vegetable broth gave enough umami that the dish didn't need any salt.
Thanks again!
-gloria
I just made the recipe and it turned out AMAZING! I used barley and I love the chewy texture to it. I was going to substitute the mascarpone for the white bean paste but it came out so creamy that I didn't even need to! This was my first time using a recipe from this website but I'll definitely use it again! Great job and thanks for posting this! 🙂