Traditionally served with orecchiette (small, ear-shaped pasta), the broccoli and pasta in this dish must be cooked in the same water, although not at the same time. Orecchiette is a specialty pasta that may not always be easy to find, but the sauce is worth making the dish with other more easily-available small pasta shells.           

INGREDIENTS

Serves 2 - 4

500g broccoli florets

400g orecchiette or other small pasta shells

1/2 cup fresh breadcrumbs           

STEPS

1. Bring a large saucepan of lightly salted water to a boil

2. Drop in broccoli and simmer for 4 - 5 minutes.

3. Remove broccoli, reserving water and drain well in a colander.       

Organic broccoli can be used in these other ways:

Broccoli Pesto - Puree lightly cooked broccoli with basil, parsley, pine nuts, freshly grated parmesan and olive oil and toss through pasta as a variation on pesto.

From The Cook’s Companion by Stephanie Alexander (Penguin, 2004), available at SuperNature.

Click here to download the pdf version.