Pasta with broccoli
We want to share with you the perfect dish for those who are not used to eating broccoli. Garlic, olive oil and Parmesan cheese combine with this veggie to perfection.
Ingredients
- 1 medium-sized broccoli
- 4 portions pasta (normally between 80g and 120g)
- 6 cloves garlic
- olive oil (for sautéing)
- 100 g Parmesan cheese (grated)
- cayenne or chilies (optional)
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Cut the little "trees" of the broccoli head in bite size pieces. You can use the stem in a soup or add it to the cooking water for the pasta later.
- In a pan, add some olive oil at medium heat and once it is hot enough, add the broccoli. At first it probably will take a lot of space, but in the cooking process it will lose a lot of water and shrink.We added the stem to the pan for a bit to add more flavour.
- Whilst the broccoli is cooking, we place a shallow pot with water at high heat and cut the garlic in thin slices.
- When the broccoli has acquire a more intense dark green colour, and its texture is tender (we can try a piece to check this), we add the the garlic and cayenne/chilies (optional) to the pan.Now it is time to cook the pasta in the boiling water.
- After 3-4 minutes, we set the heat of the broccoli pan to medium-high and let everything caramelise a bit. For this we need to pay attention so that it doesn't burn.
- When the pasta is al dente, strain it. Once the brocoli and garlic are a bit caramelised, incorporate the pasta to the pan and mix very well.
- Adjust the salt and pepper levels to taste. Keep in mind the cheese is also salty.We serve the food and sprinkle some grated Parmesan cheese on top.
Notes
- Another version of this recipe that is really interesting consists in subbing cheese with lemon, to achieve a fresher, lighter dish.
- You can also sub parmesan with old manchego cheese for a little touch. In fact, this is an excellent recipe to use a cheese that is getting too hard.