The 20-Minute Dinner Jamie Oliver Makes for His Family On Repeat

Jamie Oliver’s Green Pasta is built for weeknight meals where the goal is to pull off sorry-not-sorry veggies-not-veggies that pack the nutrition while tasting like innocent mac ‘n’ cheese. It’s on regular rotation with Jamie’s family, but I’m absolutely not above tricking myself into eating some greens, too. (Just because we’re adults doesn’t mean everything has to taste like kale.)

For my pasta, I chose 1990s phone cord (a.k.a. fusilli corti bucati, or curly fusilli). I know there’s a recipe for every pasta, but if the shape is up for grabs, I go with whatever looks fun to chew. Maybe it also came down to a little nostalgia for those awkward teen years where my parents followed the coiled phone cord wrapped around the corner, down the hall, outside in the yard, around the house, in through the garage, and up the stairs to find me talking for too long on a school night—at which point, my dad would give me the “wrap it up” signal and wait out the eternal “You hang up… No, YOU hang up… Three, two, one… Okay, this time we’re hanging up for real.” 

Tips for Making Jamie Oliver’s Green Pasta

Jamie’s instructions are delightfully British (I love my Escali kitchen scale which makes it easy to measure in grams), but knowing a few things in advance might be helpful:

• Spring onions are also known as green onions or scallions.
• Aim for four cups of veggies total—whatever’s in the fridge or freezer.
• 450 grams is a pound of pasta.
• You’ll need about 1/2 cup of Parmesan, unless you’re Team Cheese, and then the correct amount is “never enough.” 

Don’t freak out about the leek. I was planning on subbing in a red or white onion (which you can absolutely do), but I found cleaned and trimmed leeks in the Trader Joe’s produce section. All I had to do was chop.

I also used baby broccoli because I couldn’t find tender stem broccoli (broccolini), but regular broccoli works just as well. Just remember to hold back the florets—instead of going into the pan with the other vegetables, they get a quick boil with the pasta so they’re cooked but not mushy.

Chop your veggies and add them to a large Dutch oven with a little olive oil. Then, add in any frozen veg plus salt and pepper. While that’s sautéing, cook the pasta according to the package, blanching the broccoli florets in the pasta water for the last two minutes. While that’s going, grate your Parm. 

Save about a cup of that beautiful pasta water, and add it to your veggies before you strain the pasta and broccoli. At this point, you can blend the veggie mixture into a smooth sauce. I went chunky, but if I was cooking for pickier eaters, I’d definitely blitz the whole mess (including the broccoli florets), grate all the Parm I had, and toss the creamy, cheesy green sauce with the pasta. Fresh basil is optional, but totally worth it.

When I want nourishing comfort, this dish is my jam.