Seasonal recipe No 39 – Pasta with sprouting broccoli
A simple seasonal dish that’s quick to make and very tasty.
Serves 4
Preparation time: less than 30 minutes
Cooking time: 10 to 30 minutes
Ingredients
500g sprouting broccoli
1 medium sized fresh red chilli
2 cloves garlic, peeled
1 small tin of anchovy fillets in olive oil, drained (approx 10-12 fillets)
6 tbsp olive oil
350g pasta (fusilli, orecchiette, penne rigate or conchiglie are the best shapes)
4 tbsp grated parmesan
salt and pepper
Method
Put a large pan of water on to boil with a little salt. Trim any woody stalks from the broccoli, wash and chop into 1cm sections. Cut the chilli in half lengthways and remove the seeds and pith. Chop the chilli flesh, garlic and the anchovies finely.
Drop the pasta into the boiling water and stir immediately. Cook until just tender.
In another pan warm 4 tbsp of the olive oil over a medium flame and add the chilli, garlic and anchovies. Sweat these for a minute or so and then add the broccoli, season with a little salt and pepper and continue to cook gently while the pasta cooks.When the pasta’s been cooking for about 5 minutes, transfer a small ladle of its water to the broccoli mix. When the pasta is ready, add the remaining 2 tbsp oil and the cheese to this mixture and stir over a high heat for a couple of minutes. Toss with the drained pasta and serve immediately.
