Easy to prepare pasta & broccoli, Calabrian style
This recipe originated in Southern Italy and has to be one of the easiest ever pasta dishes to prepare. You need just two or three ingredients and the pasta and broccoli are cooked in the same pan! The garlic oil (with or without anchovies) added at the end gives this pasta an extra kick!
Ingredients for 4 people
1 large or 2 small heads of broccoli
2 cloves garlic, chopped into a few pieces
6 anchovy fillets, roughly chopped (optional)
2 small dried red chillies, chopped, or 1/2 teaspoon chilli powder
5 tablespoons of Cenzino organic extra virgin olive oil
360g Pasta Gragnano Penne rigate
Grated Parmesan
Method
Trim the ends off the broccoli, then cut off florets into small bite-sized pieces.
In a large frying pan heat the olive oil and add the anchovies (if using), chillies and garlic. Cook on a low heat for about 5 minutes and remove the garlic as soon as it becomes golden.
In the meantime, cook the broccoli in a large pan full of salted water for approximately 6 minutes, add the pasta to the broccoli and cook until al dente.
Add the drained pasta and broccoli to the frying pan containing the flavoured oil and anchovies and mix gently to coat well.
Sprinkle with Parmesan and serve!
Buon appetito!
We used Penne Rigate pasta for this recipe but Orecchiette work really well with broccoli too.