Pasta and Brocolli

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My affair with Broccolo Romanesco (which from now on I shall refer to as BR) has been going on since I very first arrived in Rome, so that’s about three and half years now. Its nothing clandestine you understand, nor secretive, Vincenzo is fully aware of my amante and most supportive of my need to indulge in BR, season permitting, at least twice a week,

It was love at first taste one lunchtime in the crowded back room of Da Gusto in Trastevere with my friend Alice , it must have been September. It was however, not love at first sight, when two plates of broccoli in padella (broccoli sauteed in olive oil, garlic and pepperoncino) were plonked on the table before us – yes plonked, by one of the stroppy waitresses Da Gusto is famous for. My eyes met with the florets or what was left of them, I recoiled, my first thought, murder, somebody has boiled the living daylights out of this poor vegetable, it didn’t even look like broccoli, I was momentarily transported back to my school dining room the lingering smell of cabbage and endless plates of soggy vegetable mush.

But then something changed, the smell tickling my nostrils was not of overcooked greens but something quite different, intriguing.  I took a closer look at the plate, no, it wasn’t broccoli I was familiar with. ‘It’s broccolo romanesco‘ Alice announced ‘it’s delicious‘ she said as she began eating. Closer examination revealed not mush, soft yes, (very soft in fact to the al dente, squeaky vegetable generation to which I belong), creamy compact pale green florets, flecked with pepperoncino and glistening with olive oil. I tasted, it almost melted in my mouth, creamy, a texture more like cauliflower than broccoli but tastier, flavoursome and meaty. The affair began.

The very next day I sought BR out at the market and found it nestling next to the familiar heads of dark green broccoli. It is indeed and close relation to the cauliflower and has large waxy grey green leaves and is a vividly beautiful yellowy – green colour with intriguing clusters of tightly packed florets grouped in an intricate, and this I was told by a mathematical food lover ‘logarithmic spiral formation which demands close inspection’. Back in my kitchen, we got to know each other, a little awkward at first,  I experimented, trying to recreate the moment me met, which I nearly did, not quite, but then you never can have that first moment again, can you!.

Vincenzo walked in on us, mid sautè I seem to remember, he didn’t seem surprised and simply nodded knowingly and the next day proceeded to make me pasta and broccoli, a divine combination of Broccoli in padella tossed with pasta – now, that’s a man I could spend my life with.

I have probably eaten my own weight in Broccolo romanesco since that first fateful meeting. I like it simply steamed and I am happy to eat it just so, however a sprinkling of salt and a dribble of good olive oil and I am even happier. I often cook it Roman style as it was in Da Gusto that September day, parboiled then tossed in a pan with oil, garlic, chili and eaten either as a vegetable or tossed with pasta. Recently a  Puglian friend taught me to cook it in the same boiling water as the pasta, orrechiette, before being tossed in a marvelous sauce consisting of garlic and salted anchovies melted in oil.

Now remember my first meeting with BR, ‘the first sight bit‘ and ‘the mush moment‘ I want you to bear that in mind that when you see this photo and while you are at it also remember I am no great shakes when it comes to photography……really this is a superlative plate of pasta.

You can of course cook the broccoli with a real al dente bite which is still delicious, but to my mind misses the creamy almost sauce-like quality which coats the pasta if the broccoli is just a little ‘mushy.’ I cook the broccoli and the pasta at the same time in the same pan which according to my friends is the key to the creaminess and unity of the dish.

Pasta and Broccoli

serves 4

500g of broccolo romanesco florets, 6tbsp olive oil, 2 whole cloves garlic peeled and gently crushed with back of a knife, 1 small chilli finely chopped, 500g short pasta or orecchiette, salt, feshly grated parmesan or pecorino.

Bring a large pan of water to a fast boil, salt the water well.

Now I reckon the broccoli needs about 14 minutes to be suitably creamy, you can adjust this of course. So check your pasta cooking time and coordinate that they will both be cooked at the same time. The penne we use takes 11 minutes so I throw the broccoli in first and then after 3 minutes I add the pasta to the pan. if your pasta takes longer then 14minutes !!! put the pasta in first and the broccoli after. Keep giving the pan the odd stir so the pasta dosn’t stick to the bottom.

While the pasta and broccoli is cooking, gently warm the olive oil, garlic and pepperoncino in a large frying pan over a gentle flame, it should very very gently sizzle, don’t let the garlic brown as it will taste bitter, you just want to infuse the oil with the flavours.

Once the pasta and broccoli are ready drain them well reseving just a little of the cooking water and tip them into the oil and toss well, add a tablespoon of cooking water and toss again.

Serve immediately with plenty of freshly grated parmesan or pecorino.

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