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I’ve found myself immersed in the foodie world since college. In the decade or so since, there have been a handful of people who have truly influenced my approach to cooking and sharing recipes. One of those people is Jenny Rosenstrach. As a lifelong vegetarian myself, Jenny was one of the first recipe creators I discovered who shared recipes I could recreate in my kitchen. Simply put, her recipes have always stood out for their simultaneous creativity and accessibility.
Jenny is the creator of Dinner: A Love Story, the award-winning website and Substack newsletter devoted to family dinners. She’s also the New York Times Bestselling author of six books, including Dinner: A Love Story and The Weekday Vegetarians. Every recipe I’ve made has felt like a lightbulb moment, and Jenny’s writing is witty but empathetic. (Exactly the voice you want hanging out alongside your many kitchen trials and tribulations.) It only makes sense that many of her recipes have very quickly found their way into my regular recipe rotation.
Jenny Rosenstrach on Making Weeknight Meals Everyone Will Love
With her latest book, The Weekday Vegetarians Get Simple, Jenny is sharing even more incredible vegetarian recipes that prove eating meat-free is just as easy as it is delicious. Keep scrolling for an exclusive peek at Jenny’s recipe for Broccoli Pesto Pasta, complete with her non-traditional take on everyone’s favorite weeknight meal.
How would you describe your cooking and food philosophy?
I’ve been writing Dinner: A Love Story for almost 15 years, and the mission has remained consistent through young kids, high school kids, college kids, and empty nest-hood: Make dinner—it doesn’t have to be fancy—and share it with people you love whenever possible. To that end, my recipes are unfussy, real, and created in a family kitchen, not a test kitchen.
What was your process for developing this recipe?
It was a huge day in my cooking life when I discovered that pesto does not have to be made with basil and pine nuts. In fact, it can be made from almost any vegetable and any nut as long as you have some good olive oil and Parmesan. I can’t remember exactly how it came about, but my guess is that I had broccoli lying around that was maybe not the freshest. To salvage it, I did what I always do: I puréed it into an indulgent creamy sauce for pasta. I find it’s never not the right answer.
What makes this recipe your go-to for weeknights?
I love that the entire recipe happens in one pot (plus one blender) and that the pasta boils in the same water as the broccoli. I cannot be bothered with a large clean-up on a weeknight.
Can this recipe be made with minimal tools?
While yes, it is always easier to plunge an immersion blender into a pot of softened, brothy vegetables when you’re after a certain creamy consistency (and you should absolutely do this if breaking out a big blender is going to stop the momentum altogether), but puréeing those vegetables in a powerful blender will almost always result in a silkier, richer consistency. Overall, a good quality blender, like a Cuisinart or Vitamix, is going to be an investment that greatly pays off.
What are some ingredient swaps to know about for this recipe?
To make vegan: You can omit the Parm and add three tablespoons of nutritional yeast when you go to blend.
To make gluten-free: Swap out the pasta for gluten-free pasta. (Taste Republic is my go-to brand.) Also, if you don’t have broccoli, swap in cauliflower, butternut squash, or even canned artichokes. I’m telling you, once you have the technique down, you’ll want to turn every vegetable into a sauce.
What advice would you share for someone looking to incorporate more vegetarian recipes into their repertoire?
We are so wired to think of animal protein as a starting point for dinner—i.e., I have chicken, so maybe we’ll have chicken parm. I always tell people who want to be more plant-forward to start instead by thinking about what kind of meal you’re in the mood for. Tacos? Pizza? Soup? Big Huge Salad? Once you start rewiring your brain to think this way, it’s much easier to decide, Oh I’ll have Crispy Cauliflower Tacos, or that Corn-and-Tomato Pizza, or the Coconut Corn Soup with Tofu, or the Bibb Salad with Honey-Harissa Chickpeas and Yogurt. All of these are in The Weekday Vegetarians: Get Simple.
What is the best part of creating recipes to share for people to bring into their own homes?
It’s funny, because as much as I care about good food—and hearing a recipe success story from a reader will never get old, never!—I care most about teaching people how rewarding it is to simply sit down to dinner. I cooked thousands of dinners for my daughters before they left for college (18 years worth of dinners), and yet when I think back to all those meals, I don’t necessarily think about how I nailed the perfect char on a grilled salmon, or how I finally mastered making tasty tofu. I think first and foremost about all those nights we sat down together. And how even today, dinner is like a gift I can give myself every day—whether it’s my family of four at the table, or even just me and my Instagram feed.
Dinner is like a gift I can give myself every day.
Do you have any favorite recipes from the book?
The Summer Sicilian Eggplant Parm, a fresh, non-gooey take on everyone’s favorite.
The Mixed Mushroom Shepherd’s Pie, as appropriate for Thanksgiving as it is for a Tuesday night.
The Tomato and Blue Cheese Tomato Tart because there is really no better example of low-effort high-reward cooking.
The Miso-Mushroom Tacos with Pickled Cabbage, which was the go-to, pre-late-night soccer practice dinner for my daughter all through high school.
The Crispy Curried Cauliflower with Coconut and Raisins which is so nice with a simple soup (like the tomato soup).
Consider this pasta a lesson in creating unbelievable vegetarian flavor. It’s so easy, you’ll be tempted to swap in any veggie and call it a sauce!
Kosher salt
5cups roughly cut broccoli, including stalks (from 1 large head)
1/2cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
1 garlic clove, pressed
3 scallions, white and light green parts only, roughly chopped
1/3cup pine nuts
1/3cup freshly grated
Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
1pound pasta (I like spaghetti or fettuccine, but any pasta will work)
Red pepper flakes, for serving
Bring a large pot of salted water (at least 10 cups) to a boil. Add the broccoli and boil gently for 3 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, scoop out about one-third of the broccoli and set aside on a cutting board to cool, then chop finely. Continue to gently boil the remaining broccoli for another minute. Turn off the heat, scoop out ¼ cup of the broccoli water, then using a slotted spoon, scoop out the remaining broccoli and add it straight into a blender. (Excess water is OK.)
To the blender, add the olive oil, garlic, scallions, pine nuts, Parmesan, lemon juice, 1-2 tablespoons of the reserved broccoli water, and salt and pepper. Blend until emulsified and saucy (you want it to be easily pourable—thinner than a milkshake) using more broccoli water as needed.
Bring the pot of broccoli water back to a boil. Add the pasta and cook to al dente according to the package directions. If you’ve used up your reserved broccoli water, scoop out another ¼ cup of pasta water and set aside. Drain the pasta, drizzling in a little olive oil to prevent sticking. Return the pasta to the pot and toss in the pesto until it coats the pasta but doesn’t look gloppy. (Use a drizzle of pasta water if needed.) Serve with red pepper flakes, the reserved chopped broccoli, and more Parmesan.
