Spring Flavours - Purple Sprouting Broccoli
Broccoli comes from the Italian word brocco meaning branch or arm. Simply steamed or boiled, it partners almost any fish or meat dish, and it also takes centre stage in excellent dishes such as broccoli with anchovy. Broccoli has been grown in the UK since the early 18th century, although the purple sprouting variety has only risen to prominence in the last 30 years. Purple sprouting broccoli is especially good when young and tender. Look for darkly coloured specimens with crisp stalks, no bigger than 1cm in diameter, which snap cleanly when broken. Avoid bendy broccoli.
SPICED PURPLE SPROUTING BROCCOLI WITH ANCHOVY AND PARMESAN PASTA
INGREDIENTS
• 500g purple sprouting broccoli
• 10 g red chillies – finely chopped
• 8 g garlic cloves – peeled and chopped
• 50g anchovy fillets – drained
• 60ml olive oil
• 350g pasta - penne, conchiglie, macaroni
• 100g parmesan cheese – grated
• 200g cherry tomatoes
METHOD
1. Trim the outer leaves and woody stalks from the broccoli
2. Wash and chop into 1 cm sections. Cut the chilli in half lengthways and scrape out the seeds
3. Chop the chilli, the garlic and the anchovies finely
4. In a pan, warm 4 tablespoons of olive oil and add the chilli, garlic and anchovies. Saute these for a minute or so and add the broccoli and cherry tomatoes
5. Season with a little salt and pepper, then continue to cook gently 6. Drop the pasta in boiling water and stir immediately
7. When the pasta has been cooking for 5 minutes transfer a small ladle of the pasta cooking water to the pan of broccoli. Keeping over a high heat, add another 2 tablespoons of oil and add the parmesan cheese
8. Cook for a couple of minutes, then toss with the drained pasta and serve immediately drizzled with some good olive oil and parmesan.