🌶️ Charred Jalapeño & Spring Onion Sauce with Tenderstem Broccoli
BOLD & ADVENTUROUS · Smoky & Spicy
A little heat. A lot of flavour. This one’s for adventurous eaters. Charred jalapeños and spring onions meet fresh coriander, zesty lime and nutty almonds in a bold sauce with real personality. Add carrot pasta and tenderstem broccoli for a colourful dinner full of contrasting flavours. Smoky, fresh and with just enough attitude.
At a glance
Serves: 4 smaller portions · Pasta: 300g, weighed frozen · Method: Boil for a soft finish · Dietary: Vegetarian with dairy cheese, vegan with a suitable plant-based alternative
Cooking from frozen
Cook Fuel Me Once pasta directly from frozen. No need to defrost. Boil it using the instructions on your packaging and ensure it is piping hot throughout before serving.
Why we love it
Smoky, zesty and full of personality. Charred jalapeños and spring onions create a bold, fragrant sauce, while coriander and lime keep everything beautifully fresh. Nutty almonds bring richness, tenderstem broccoli adds a satisfying bite and our carrot pasta balances the punchy flavours. Proof that a vegetable-packed dinner doesn’t have to be predictable.
What you’ll need
300g Fuel Me Once carrot pasta
200g tenderstem broccoli, thick stems halved lengthways
6 spring onions, trimmed
2 jalapeños, deseeded for a milder sauce
2 garlic cloves, peeled
A large handful of coriander, including tender stems
A thumb-sized piece of ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
50g almonds
50g vegetarian hard cheese, or a plant-based alternative
100ml extra virgin olive oil
Zest of 2 limes, plus juice to taste
Black pepper and salt, to taste
Let’s cook
1. Char the vegetables
Heat a dry frying pan over a medium-high heat. Add the spring onions, jalapeños and garlic. Turn them until blistered and softened, removing the garlic as soon as it colours so it does not burn.
2. Blend the sauce
Blend the charred vegetables with the coriander, ginger, almonds, vegetarian hard cheese or plant-based alternative, olive oil and lime zest. Start with the juice of one lime, then taste and add more gradually. Blend smooth or leave a little texture. Season to taste.
3. Cook broccoli and pasta
Simmer the broccoli until tender but still bright green, then lift it out with a slotted spoon. Cook the frozen pasta directly from frozen in the same water, following the pack instructions. Reserve a mug of cooking water before draining gently.
4. Bring it together
Fold the warm pasta and broccoli through the sauce off the heat. Add reserved pasta water a little at a time until everything is lightly coated. You may not need all the sauce. Serve with black pepper and a final squeeze of lime.
The little chef’s trick
Char the vegetables before blending. Those darkened edges give the sauce its smoky character. Add lime juice gradually so the citrus stays bright without overpowering the other flavours.
Make it yours
Jalapeños vary in intensity. For a gentler kick, use one instead of two and remove the white membranes and seeds. For a vegan variation, use the existing plant-based hard cheese or nutritional yeast alternative, then adjust the seasoning.
How much pasta should I use?
This recipe makes 4 smaller servings, using 300g pasta in total, or 75g per person. All pasta weights are measured frozen, before cooking.
For children, around 75g is a suggested smaller serving. Adjust for age, appetite and individual requirements. Younger children may need less. For adults, around 150g is a starting point for a main meal, depending on appetite and what you serve alongside.
A 300g pack provides four suggested 75g smaller servings or two suggested 150g adult servings. For larger portions, scale the whole recipe proportionately, including the sauce and vegetables. These are Fuel Me Once serving suggestions, not NHS pasta portion recommendations.
Allergens and dietary information
Contains wheat (spelt) and almonds. Contains milk when using dairy cheese. The recipe is vegetarian with suitable vegetarian hard cheese. It is vegan only when prepared with a suitable plant-based alternative. Check all packaged ingredient labels.
Recipe inspired by Liam Colin Mitchell.