Pasta Broccoli

origin

INGREDENTS

• 1 head of broccoli
• 300g spaghetti (150g per person)
• 2 cloves garlic (1 per person)
• olive oil
• Grated pecorino cheese
• salt
• pepper

METHOD

1. Cut the broccoli. Cut the stem into small pieces so that it cooks at the same time as the rest of the broccoli. Also take the leaves.
2. Boil 5L water in a large pot, and add a tablespoon of rock salt.
3. Add your broccoli to the boiling water and leave to cook for approx. 5 minutes.
4. Put a medium size pan on your stove at a low heat and add a generous amount of olive oil.
5. Add crushed garlic to the pan then leave to simmer. Once the garlic starts to brown, add 1-2 tablespoons water – this will help prevent the garlic from burning.
6. Once the broccoli has been cooking for 5 or so minutes, use a hand strainer to transfer it to the pan and gently combine it with the olive oil and garlic, leaving it on the stove at a very low temperature.
7. At this point, you want some of the broccoli to be crushed and others to be full pieces.
8. Use the broccoli water to cook the pasta.
9. Add salt and pepper to the broccoli and stir through.
10. Once the pasta is ready, using a hand sieve, strain it then add to the pan and mix together gently, but well, being careful not to break all the pieces of broccoli.
11. Add half a cup of pasta water for this pasta broccoli recipe and mix well.
12. Add a generous sprinkle of grated pecorino (or parmesan) cheese and mix through.

HOW TO SERVE

Immediately! Serve hot, add extra pecorino and pepper as you desire.

For a twist, add a tablespoon of pasta water to a scoop of fresh ricotta, mix it together and combine with the pasta while it’s still hot.