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10-Minute Fusilli with Spicy Peanut Sauce

Isabella Barbato

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Serves: 4
Preparation: 10
Cooking: 15
Ready: 25

This quick and comforting pasta features a punchy no-cook sauce and broccoli, making it an easy, adaptable dish that’s perfect for a weeknight dinner, packed lunch or picnic.

Ingredients

400 g fusilli
1 head pf broccoli, broken into small florets
3 heaped tablespoons peanut butter (smooth or crunchy)
juice of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons light soy sauce
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 small garlic clove, grated (optional)
dried chilli flakes, or a few drops of chilli oil (optional)

Method

Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil. Add the fusilli and cook according to the package directions. In the last 3–4 minutes of cooking, add the broccoli florets to the same pot. Reserve a ladleful of the cooking water, then drain.

While the pasta is cooking, place the peanut butter, lemon juice, soy sauce, sesame oil and any optional garlic or chilli in a jar. Shake until smooth and emulsified.

Drain the pasta and broccoli, return to the pan or a large bowl, and immediately toss with the sauce. Add a splash of the cooking water to help the sauce coat the pasta evenly. Mix well.

Serve warm, at room temperature, or cold … whatever you prefer. This keeps well in the refrigerator for 2–3 days and it’s perfect for packed lunches.

Additional notes

Recipe taken from Pasta Therapy by Isabella Barbato
Photography by Patricia Niven
Published by Nourish, June 2026
HARDBACK £25.00

“A quick no-cook sauce that tastes even better at room temperature. I may well lose my Italian passport over this but so be it! This is one of my favourite pastas in the world. I’ve made it countless times since first throwing it together in Singapore as a lazy weeknight dinner. It’s fast, always reliable and it hits every craving when you want something punchy and comforting. The sauce is completely uncooked and comes together in less than a minute: just shake everything in a jar and the whole dish is done by the time the pasta’s boiled.

I like to use store-bought pasta here – fusilli, penne, farfalle are my usual choices, but spaghetti works well too – and while it’s great on its own, I usually throw in some broccoli florets to cook with the pasta in the same pot. It makes it feel more like a proper meal and gives you one of your five a day.

It’s delicious hot, but somehow even better once it’s cooled a little, which makes it ideal for a packed lunch or picnic. And it’s endlessly adaptable: keep it mild or add chilli, add garlic, swap in another green. Whatever works.”

Pasta Therapy by Isabella Barbato