Penne pasta with broccoli and anchovy

Romanesco broccoli” or “coral broccoli”, it is actually a variant form of cauliflower. Besides being incredibly beautiful, it is also a mathematical plant. Its shape is fractal, meaning that each bud is arranged along a logarithmic spiral and each small spiral participates to a larger spiral to obtain the final form. Fascinating, isn’t it?

This recipe – originally from Puglia – is a brilliant exemplification of the use of umami-rich ingredients in Italian food. A small amount of anchovy combined with a healthy sprinkle of cheese brings out the vibrant flavor of the vegetables and makes a perfect, quick pasta sauce. For an even healthier treat, use wholegrain pasta.

Recipe

Ingredients

• 350 gr (12 ounces) short penne pasta or orecchiette
• 1 head Romanesco broccoli or Sicilian broccoli, cut into florets and stalk trimmed and diced
• 2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1 anchovy  fillet or 1 sundried tomato if vegetarian
• 1 large clove of garlic, very finely chopped
• 1 chili pepper (optional)
• 3-4 tablespoon Parmigiano or Pecorino, grated

Directions

For the sauce, use a large sauté pan or a wok that must be large enough to hold all the pasta. Over low heat, add the 1 tablespoon of olive oil, garlic, chili pepper if using, anchovy and heat until the anchovy is melted. Do not brown the garlic. Set aside.

In this recipe, the broccoli is cooked together with the pasta and then both are added to the garlic/anchovy oil. Once cooked, Broccoli must be fork tender.

Please keep in mind that broccoli will cook in about 5 min and penne in about 10 minutes.

Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and cook the pasta until 5 min. before the end of the cooking time indicated on the package. Add the broccoli, cover and bring quickly to the boil again.

Should you use fresh pasta, you need to reverse the order of cooking as the pasta will cook 1 to 3 minutes depending on the shape. This means boiling the broccoli for about 3 minutes, then adding the fresh pasta.

When the pasta is al dente, strain and transfer vegetables and pasta in the wok containing the garlic mixture. Add 2-3 tablespoon of pasta water, half of the cheese and stir vigorously over high heat until most of moisture is absorbed and the mixture

looks creamy and fluid. Serve immediately with more cheese on the side.

For a vegetarian version, use a good quality sundried tomato finely chopped instead of the anchovy and use well aged Pecorino cheese instead of Parmigiano.

Serves 3-4