When I first made this broccoli pasta dish for my kids, they devoured it. As a parent, it was a meal that ticked multiple boxes: it was a quick dish for hungry kids, it included plenty of veg, and it was also food that I wanted to eat. There are many variations of broccoli pasta in Southern Italy, from Puglia to Sicily. While you can find broccoli pasta recipes online, I think this version is more efficient and flavourful, and I have my good friend and food editor Camellia Aebischer to thank for it. Camellia first tasted broccoli pasta when her vegetarian friend ordered it at Feliciano, a small Italian restaurant in Adelaide. The dish inspired Cam to reinvent it at home, and the result was a spaghetti aglio e olio crossed with a pesto pasta that is healthy, moreish and convenient. Cooking the broccoli florets until they start to break down and cling to the pasta makes for a tastier meal than one where the broccoli is cooked separately. I’ve taken Cam’s method but changed the ingredients and removed the chilli, but feel free to add some if you don’t have small children – hah! Look for broccoli with large florets for this recipe, but the stalk is also fabulous, so any broccoli will do!
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons sea salt
- 500g orecchiette (see Tip)
- 2 heads of broccoli, florets separated, stalks diagonally sliced into matchsticks
- 3 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
- 4 garlic cloves, finely sliced
- 1/4 cup pine nuts or macadamia nuts, roughly chopped
- finely grated zest and juice of 1/2 lemon
- 50 g grana padano, shaved
- 1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper
Method
Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil and season with the salt. Add the orecchiette and cook for 3 minutes, then add the broccoli and cook for 8 minutes or until the broccoli is soft and the orecchiette is al dente. Drain and return the broccoli and orecchiette to the pan.
Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a small frying pan over low heat, add the garlic and nuts and cook for 2–3 minutes, until fragrant. Add the lemon zest and stir, then pour the mixture over the broccoli and orecchiette. Squeeze in the lemon juice and scatter over the grana padano, then season with the pepper and drizzle with a little extra olive oil. Toss well to combine, then divide among bowls and serve.