Broccoli Pasta with Garlic, Pine Nuts & Chili
This 20-minute broccoli pasta recipe is both super tasty and super healthy. It is inspired by a wonderful broccoli rabe pasta I once ate on the Amalfi Coast in Italy. This is my number one favorite broccoli recipe and I serve it again and again for summer lunches or as a warm side dish. It has a deep garlicky nuttiness with plenty of healthy green crunch and freshness from the chili and basil.
In Southern Italy, they make this with broccoli rabe which has smaller florets and more tender long steams than traditional broccoli. I usually make it with broccolini, which is a hybrid of Chinese broccoli and is the most similar but regular broccoli works just as well as long as you cut the florets down to bite-size and thinly slice the thick stem. I never waste the broccoli stem as it takes great! You can use any pasta but I like to use orecchiette or ear-shaped pasta, preferably from Rummo or De Cecco. I like this pasta with lashings of parmesan cheese, and I am very particular about buying real parmigiano reggiano.
Broccoli Pasta with Garlic, Pine Nuts & Chili
Serves 4
Ingredients
2 large heads of broccoli or equivalent in broccolini
300g Pasta, ideally orcchiette
2 cloves garlic, crushed with salt
Large bunch of basil leaves, torn
Handful of grated parmesan cheese
1 chili pepper, chopped and deseeded
50g pinenuts
Olive oil
Method
Put the pasta on to cook
Prepare the broccoli by separating the florets from the stalks. Slice the stalks and put the florets aside.
Gently fry the stalk slices with some olive oil in a large pan. Season, and add the garlic, making sure that it does not burn.
Add the broccoli florets to the pasta for the last 2 minutes of cooking.
Transfer the florets and pasta to the pan with the stalks, keeping a cupful of cooking water aside.
Toss in the grated parmesan, basil, chili and pine nuts and add enough cooking water to keep the pasta loose but not swimming.
Season and serve immediately