Pasta with Creamy Broccoli Sauce

When you are craving a creamy Alfredo sauce this is a good swap.  It is creamy but way lower in fat.  Also the edition of broccoli is optional, but gives that extra nutritional boost and color pop!  Instead of incorporating the broccoli into the sauce you can always just serve steamed on the side (you could even pour a little extra sauce on it)

I used a long noodle pasta, but any pasta will do- try linguine!

Ingredients

• 1 pound of pasta of your choice
• 3 tbsp of a butter substitute (e.g. I cant believe it's not butter)
• 1 shallot, minced
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tsp of fresh thyme
• 3 tbsp of flour
• 1/2 cup of white wine
• 1 cup of chicken stock
• 1 cup of low fat milk (I used 1%)
• 1/2 tbs of corn starch
• 2 tbs of non fat yogurt (or you could use low fat cream cheese)
• 1/2 cup of pecorino cheese (or parm)
• For the broccoli: 1 1/2 cups of broccoli florets & 1 cup of pasta water and a food processor/blender)

Directions

1. Get your water boiling for you pasta.
2. Meanwhile in a sauce pot add the butter and heat over medium heat.
3. When the butter melts add your minced shallot and garlic cloves
4. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper. Then add the thyme.
5. Cook for about 5 minutes until softened. Careful not to burn the mixture, lower the heat if cooking too much.
6. Deglaze the pan with your wine. Cook until the wine almost completely evaporates.
7. Sprinkle in your flour.  Mix and cook for about one minute to get rid of the flour taste.
8. Now whisk in your chicken stock- stir until everything is a smooth mixture.
9. Measure out your milk in a measuring cup and add the corn starch BEFORE adding to the pot.  Stir until the milk and corn starch are completely mixed. Add the milk mixture. DO NOT LET THIS COME TO A BOIL. If you are using low fat milk do not let this come to a boil- it will cause the milk to separate and your sauce will taste gritty.
10. Add your yogurt and cheese.
11. Whisk everything until a combined mixture.  (This would be the opportune time to cook off your pasta)  Cook the sauce for 5-10 minutes until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Turn off the heat and let sit for a couple minutes to thicken up even more.
12. For the broccoli part: in a food processor add the broccoli and carefully add one cup of that salted pasta cooking water.  The pasta water will be hot enough to just cook the broccoli but still let it maintain its bright green color.  It also adds some seasoning to it as well.  Blend until it is a thick paste.
13. In a large pot or bowl, add your drained pasta, about 3/4 of the sauce and broccoli paste.  Stir until all combined.  I leave a bit of sauce to the side to add to the top later or use for something else I cooked with the pasta- like my Mayo Crusted Chicken.
14. Plate and garnish with a bit more sauce and shredded cheese!