Pesto Spaghetti and Meatballs Recipe with Garden Peas and Broccoli

This recipe for pesto spaghetti and meatballs with peas and broccoli makes a spring-summer spaghetti and meatballs. Fresh and light, it’s a green veggie- ‘heavy’ pasta with herby meatballs courtesy of a dollop of basil pesto in the meatball mixture. It’s also versatile: chicken mince is also delish, use your favourite herbs, zucchini and green beans are great, add cream for a rich sauce.

It’s spring in Australia and green vegetables are in season – asparagus, broccoli, zucchini, green beans and garden peas, you name it. While I’m usually tossing spring veg in a salad or vegetable side, or serving spring vegetables with fish (have you tried my gorgeous spring salmon tray bake?) I had to include the seasonal veggies in pasta, mum’s favourite food!

If you love spaghetti and meatballs with tomato sauce, you’ll love this deliciously light spring-summer pesto spaghetti and meatballs with peas and broccoli. It’s one of my new favourite pasta recipes and best meatball recipes. It can be made in 45 minutes, but if you make the pesto ahead of time (or use store-bought if tight on time), it can be on the table in 30 minutes.

This recipe makes a generous pasta with 25 meatballs, perfect for a casual weekend lunch in the sun with family or friends. Serve it at the centre of the table with a big salad and loaves of crusty sourdough. Or scale the pasta and veggies down and you have leftover meatballs for another dish. Notice I squashed the meatballs a little? I squeezed them between mini brioche buns to make sliders.

Pesto lover? Try our recipes for pesto gnocchi with homemade pesto alla Genovese, my basil pesto pasta with potatoes and beans (the pesto dish I fell for on our first trip to Genoa, but made with fusilli instead of trofie), a pesto potato salad, this pan-fried asparagus with pesto hummus, our pesto scrambled eggs, my cherry tomato burrata salad with asparagus, basil pesto and dukkah, this broccoli pasta with a creamy broccoli pesto sauce, and my Southeast Asian pesto.

I’ll tell you more about this recipe for pesto spaghetti and meatballs with peas and broccoli below. If you’re looking for more cooking inspiration, we have many hundreds of recipes in our archives. You can save your favourites in your own private account by clicking on the heart on the right of any post to create the account and save the recipe.

Pesto Spaghetti and Meatballs Recipe with Garden Peas and Broccoli

This recipe for pesto spaghetti and meatballs with peas and broccoli is one of our best broccoli recipes. But it’s nothing if not versatile. You can treat it as a clean-out-the-fridge or -pantry pasta and use whatever green vegetables need using instead of or alongside the garden peas and broccoli, make pork or chicken meatballs, or add cream for a richer sauce.

I’ve kept the pasta fresh and light and green veggie-‘heavy’ as spring has finally arrived and the weather is a little warmer. Plus there are so many gorgeous spring greens available right now. The day after we ate this pasta, I made spring sliders with the meatballs, green veggies, and mini brioche buns.

I’ll share that recipe when I’m back home in Siem Reap with Terence. Without my photographer husband on hand during my time in Australia I’ve been shooting my recipe photos in the living room I’ve transformed into a studio, and I can’t do the burgers justice with my iPhone.

Just a few tips to making my recipe for pesto spaghetti and meatballs with peas and broccoli.

Tips to Making this Pesto Spaghetti and Meatballs Recipe with Peas and Broccoli

I’ve got some tips to making this recipe for pesto spaghetti and meatballs with peas and broccoli below, starting with the pesto.

The Ingredients

For the basil pesto, I use a tweaked version of this traditional Pesto Genovese, the original basil pesto from Genoa in northern Italy, but you could treat this as a clean-out-the-fridge pesto and use any fresh herbs or even fresh green vegetables.

I have this recipe for a Southeast Asian pesto if you want to give this an Asian flavour. As well as adding the pesto to the meatballs, you could add ingredients such as ginger, and even some chilli flakes or chilli crisp. You could also use Asian noodles instead of spaghetti.

For the pesto meatballs ingredients: I love the combination of pork and beef mince, but you could just use ground pork or even chicken mince. If you’re short on time, use onion powder and garlic powder. Any kind of breadcrumbs work, or soak stale bread in milk. Finely chopped fresh herbs are also lovely.

Do try to use proper Parmigiano Reggiano or aged Pecorino Romano (not fresh), even if you buy a small wedge and use it sparingly. If you can, try to avoid the finely grated ‘parmesan cheese’ that looks like saw dust, as there’s a reason for that. Tests found that some brands contained cellulose, made from wood pulp!

Making the Pesto

This spaghetti and meatballs made with basil pesto should take you no more than 45 minutes to make, but you can save yourself 15 minutes if you make the basil pesto ahead of time. Top it with a little extra virgin olive oil and it will last in the fridge for a few days.

I recommend making the basil pesto using a mortar and pestle. I use this handcrafted KROK mortar and pestle mortar and pestle, made by artisans in a village in Thailand; it’s beautiful to hold, but by purchasing it you’re helping preserve this tradition cultural production.

To make the basil pesto in a mortar and pestle, all you need to do is add the garlic and salt to the mortar, use the pestle to pound it into a pulp; add the pine nuts to that and continue to pound until you have a paste.

Add the basil leaves gradually, crushing them in a circular motion to incorporate them into the paste. Add the cheeses, using the pestle to stir them into the paste, then slowly pour in the olive oil, continue to stir until you have a vibrant green pesto.

Pesto is best when just made. The colour is more vivid, aroma more fragrant, and taste is fresher. But you can transfer it to a sterilised jar with lid – we love these clip-top jars and mason jars – pour a little olive oil on top and refrigerate it. But note the colour will be darker, aroma less intense, and flavour less fresh tasting.

And, yes, of course, you can also make the basil pesto in a blender – although Italians are right in saying it tastes better pounded in a mortar – and, yes, if you’re tight on time, you can also buy and use store-bought basil pesto for this dish.

Making the Pesto Meatballs

Making meatballs is easy. Just add the ingredients to a mixing bowl – the ground pork, ground beef, minced onion, minced garlic, breadcrumbs, beaten egg, pepper (and salt if you like, but I don’t think they need it), and a tablespoon of basil pesto – use your hands to mix it all together, then roll it into balls.

With any meatballs, for a loose rustic texture only combine the ingredients until just mixed together; don’t over-combine the ingredients, or over-roll the meatballs, which will give you a tighter, more dense texture – unless that’s what you prefer, of course.

Weigh the meatballs so they’re the same size and cook evenly. Small meatballs also cook more quickly. I Use a spoon to scoop out the mince mixture and roll it loosely into a ball between your hands, then use a digital scale to check each meatball is 20 grams, and repeat until mixture is finished.

Wet your hands and the meatball mixture won’t stick as much.

Cook the meatballs in a large frying pan so they have some space around them. I like to place each meatball in the pan in a circular formation, remembering where I started, then do another lap around the pan with the tongs to turn the meatballs so they cook evenly.

After my first lap around the pan, I add the spaghetti to the pot of salt boiling water, which should well and truly be on a rolling ball by now. That way the spaghetti will be ready soon after the meatballs are done.

Cooking the Vegetables

I like to cook the broccoli and peas in the same frying pan. Use a paper kitchen towel to clean it, add a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil, heat it over medium until shimmering then add the small broccoli florets and peas. Use fresh peas or frozen peas.

The vegetables will only take a few minutes to cook. You want them firm, tender and still bright green. You could also blanch the vegetables by putting them in a deep-frying basket and immersing them in the boiling water with the pasta, then running cold water of them before throwing them in the pan.

Bringing It All Together

Don’t drain the spaghetti as you want to do as the Italians do and add some cooking water to the pasta and you never know how much you’ll need. Instead, use tongs to transfer the cooked spaghetti to the pan then stir it in with the pesto and vegetables.

You’ll then add a little cooking water to make things saucier, taste and season with salt and pepper to suit your palate, add the meatballs to the pan, and use those tongs again to distribute the pesto spaghetti and greens between bowls, which you’ll top with the meatballs and sprinkle with a little more grated Parmigiano Reggiano.

Alternatively, you could transfer the lot to a large serving plate for the centre of the table, and serve with dishes of grated cheese, fresh basil, salt and pepper, a side salad or two, and crusty bread.

Pesto Spaghetti and Meatballs Recipe with Peas and Broccoli

Pesto Spaghetti and Meatballs Recipe with Garden Peas and Broccoli

AuthorLara Dunston

This recipe for pesto spaghetti and meatballs with peas and broccoli makes a spring-summer spaghetti and meatballs. Fresh and light, it’s a green veggie-‘heavy’ pasta with herby meatballs courtesy of a dollop of basil pesto in the meatball mixture. It’s also versatile: chicken mince is also delicious, use your favourite herbs, zucchini and green beans are great, add cream for richer sauce.

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Prep Time 25 minutes mins

Cook Time 17 minutes mins

Total Time 42 minutes mins

Course main, pasta, lunch, dinner

Cuisine Italian

Servings made with recipeServings 4

Calories 1509 kcal

Equipment

Stock Pot

Mortar and Pestle

10 Inch Hybrid Nonstick Frying Pan

Baking Scales

Ceramic Serving Platter

Ingredients

 

MetricUS Customary

 

1x2x3x

Basil pesto

• 2 cloves garlic - peeled
• ¼ tsp sea salt
• 2 tbsp pine nuts
• ½ cup extra virgin olive oil - preferably Italian
• 3 cups fresh Italian basil leaves - washed and dried
• ¾ cup Parmigiano Reggiano cheese - grated
• ½ cup Pecorino Sardo cheese - grated

Meatballs and spaghetti

• 250 g pork mince
• 250 g beef mince
• 1 onion - minced, or onion powder
• 1 garlic clove - minced, or garlic powder
• 1 cup breadcrumbs
• 1 egg - beaten
• ½ tsp black pepper
• 3 tbsp basil pesto - divided
• 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil - divided
• 400 g spaghetti
• 1 cup peas - frozen or fresh
• 1 broccoli head - trimmed and cut into small florets

Instructions

 

• Put a large pot of salted water on the stove over high heat to boil.
• Make basil pesto using a mortar and pestle: add garlic and salt, pound into a pulp; add pine nuts and pound to a paste. Add basil leaves gradually, crushing them in a circular motion to incorporate into the paste. Add cheeses, using the pestle to stir them into the paste, then slowly pour in the olive oil, stirring until you have a green paste. Transfer to a sterilised jar with lid.
• Make the meatballs: to a large mixing bowl, add the pork mince, beef mince, minced onion and garlic, breadcrumbs, beaten egg, pepper, and 1 tablespoon basil pesto, and loosely combine with wet hands for a rustic texture. Use a spoon to scoop out the mince mixture, roll it loosely into a ball between two hands, using a digital scale to check each meatball is 20 grams, and repeat until mixture is finished.
• In a large frying pan over medium-high heat 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil and when shimmering place each meatball in the pan in a circular formation, so you remember the order you placed them. When finished, use tongs to turn the meatballs so they cook evenly, and continue turning every couple of minutes until they’re cooked through and browned all over, around 8-10 minutes.
• While the meatballs are browning, add the spaghetti to the pot of salt boiling water, give it a stir to separate, and cook according to the packet instructions until al dente, around 8-9 minutes.
• When the meatballs are cooked, transfer them to an oven tray and keep warm. Clean out the same frying pan with a paper kitchen towel, add a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil, heat over medium until shimmering, add the small broccoli florets and peas and cook for a few minutes, stirring occasionally until tender but still bright green.
• Push the green vegetables to one side of the pan, add another tablespoon each of extra virgin olive oil and basil pesto, add ½ cup of pasta water, and stir to create a sauce. Use tongs to transfer the cooked spaghetti to the same pan and stir to combine the lot. If you like, add a little more cooking water to make it saucier. Taste, and if needed, season with salt and pepper to suit your palate.
• Add the meatballs to the pan and stir to combine, or, if your pan isn’t large enough, use tongs to distribute the pesto spaghetti and greens between bowls, top with meatballs, and sprinkle with a little more grated Parmigiano Reggiano. Or transfer to a large serving plate for the centre of the table. Serve with more cheese, fresh basil, salt and pepper, and a side salad.

Notes

To finish and serve: more grated Parmigiano Reggiano, fresh basil leaves, salt and pepper.
You could also make the basil pesto in a blender or use store-bought pesto if you’re tight on time.

Nutrition

Calories: 1509kcalCarbohydrates: 118gProtein: 59gFat: 90gSaturated Fat: 23gPolyunsaturated Fat: 10gMonounsaturated Fat: 47gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 158mgSodium: 1093mgPotassium: 1385mgFiber: 12gSugar: 11gVitamin A: 2750IUVitamin C: 158mgCalcium: 620mgIron: 8mg

Please do let us know in the comments below if you make our recipe for pesto spaghetti and meatballs with peas and broccoli, as we love hearing how our recipes turn out for you.