Pasta ai Broccoli
Short pasta cooked with broccoli until the florets break down into a green sauce, with garlic, chilli and olive oil.
Photograph credit: Barb's pasta with pancetta and broccoli - 07/11/2006 by roland · CC0 1.0 · Flickr
Making Pasta ai Broccoli Ahead
Keeps in the fridge for 2 days. Reheat with a splash of water.
Making Pasta ai Broccoli
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Boil the broccoli in a large pan of well-salted water for 4 minutes. Add the penne to the same water and cook according to the packet. Keep a cup of the water, then drain loosely.
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Meanwhile, warm the oil in a wide pan over a low heat with the garlic and chilli flakes for 2 minutes until the garlic just starts to colour.
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Add the pasta and broccoli with a splash of the water and the salt. Crush the broccoli with a spoon as you toss for 2 minutes.
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Serve with the parmesan.
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A Few Pointers
- Cook the broccoli until very soft.
- Keep some of the pasta water.
- Crush the florets into the pasta.
- Add an anchovy with the garlic for extra depth.
Why the Method Is What It Is
Overcook the broccoli. That is the opposite of the usual rule, and the whole point of this dish, because broccoli cooked until it is soft and starting to break down becomes a rough, savoury sauce that coats the pasta.
Break the broccoli into small florets and slice the stalk thinly. Boil them in the same pot as the pasta, in well-salted water, and add the pasta when the broccoli has had a few minutes. Both finish together. Do not drain it too well. A little of the starchy cooking water is what binds the sauce.
In a wide pan, warm olive oil with sliced garlic and chilli flakes until the garlic just begins to colour. Tip in the drained pasta and broccoli and crush the florets with the back of a spoon. They fall apart into a green, nubbly sauce.
Finish with parmesan and a splash of pasta water. Add more oil at the table if you like.
What to Put Next to It
Green salad · Crusty bread · Lemon wedges · Grated parmesan
Sides from the same cuisine on this site: Tuscan Panzanella, Creamy Parmesan Polenta, Ciabatta.
Changing the Recipe
- An eighth of a teaspoon of garlic powder per clove is the stand-in usually given when you are out of fresh garlic; it will not brown the same way, and it burns easily, so add it with the liquid.
What's in a Serving
Per serving, calculated from the ingredient list with USDA FoodData Central figures (SR Legacy). A calculation, not a laboratory analysis: brands, cuts and how you measure change the real numbers. How the figures are worked out.
Your notes on this recipe
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Compiled by Turab
Checked by script for timings, diet labels and nutrition arithmetic. How the recipes are checked. Found a mistake? Tell us.
First published ; last changed .
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