Take cottage cheese out of fridge and let sit on the counter to come to room temp.

Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil. Cut broccoli into bite-size florets. Trim off tough parts of stem; discard. Thinly slice stem crosswise.

Peel and thinly slice garlic.

Add pasta to boiling water. About 2 minutes before pasta should be al dente (according to package directions), add florets and cook until pasta is ready. Turn off the heat, scoop out 1 cup of pasta water, then drain the pasta. Transfer pasta + broccoli to a baking sheet, drizzle with oil, and toss. Spread into an even layer (this will cool down pasta a bit and prevent it from sticking).

IF YOU'RE USING BANZA: cook a minute or two less than package directions. It overcooks very quickly and then will fall apart!

Place cottage cheese, parm, lemon zest and juice, ½ teaspoon kosher salt, and several grinds black pepper in a food processor fitted with the blade attachment. Process, scraping down bottom and sides of the bowl as needed, until smooth. With the motor running, stream in a splash of the pasta water until sauce reaches desired consistency.

Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in now-empty pasta pot over medium heat. Add garlic and broccoli stems; saute until stems are tender but still have a slight bite, 4 to 5 min. Remove from heat and stir in pasta and sauce. Stir, adding another splash of pasta water if needed, until a creamy sauce coats the noodles. Taste and season with salt and pepper.

(At this point, if you want to warm it up a bit over low heat, you can!)

Serve with more Parm