Long-cooked broccoli with spaghetti
Barely-cooked broccoli is the absolute worst in our world – such a punish to eat, with tough, chewy stems and that trail of vegetal matter settling so attractively between your teeth. Our remedy? To finely chop the broc (leaves, stems and all), combine it with lemon juice, a tonne of garlic and anchovies, indecent amounts of EVOO and some water, then cook the hell out of it until it surrenders all resistance and turns greige, taking on a flavour you just wouldn’t believe in the process. It’s so frigging good.
We can’t claim it’s an original concept because we long ago got the idea from a 1988 American cookbook called Chez Panisse Cooking, by the legendary Alice Waters and her then-chef Paul Bertolli. The secret is to really finely chop the broccoli which, with a large sharp knife in hand and the techno rave up loud, really doesn’t take that long. Something magical happens when you simmer the shit out of broccoli with those other ingredients; everything melts together and the broc takes on a totally different dimension. It tastes deep. Savoury. Satisfying. Delicious. Toss it through pasta, finishing it with handfuls of finely grated grana padano. If you want to stretch it out or sense the family IQ could benefit from some Omega-3s, add drained, flaked tuna at the end, sometimes with drained cannellini beans too. If you reduce the cooking liquid down to just about nada, it makes a glorious pizza topping; you can also shove it on toasted ciabatta to serve in a bruschetta-style situation. Throw in some lightly toasted pine nuts or chopped flat-leaf parsley at the end if you like.
SERVES 4
2 large heads of broccoli (about 1kg)
2½ tbsp drained baby capers
80ml (¼ cup) lemon juice, or to taste
125ml (½ cup) extra virgin olive oil
10-12 large garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
8-10 anchovy fillets, or to taste
400g dried spaghetti, preferably bronze-extruded
finely grated parmesan and dried chilli flakes, to serve
Using a large, sharp knife, trim about 1cm off the base of the broccoli heads. Finely chop the broccoli stems, florets and leaves; yeah, it’s a bit of a work-out but the finer you chop, the better the whole thing tastes. Combine the broccoli, capers, lemon juice and extra virgin olive oil in a medium saucepan, then add enough water to come high enough so you can just see it; it should not cover the broccoli. Combine the garlic and anchovies in a small food processor and process until very finely chopped (you can also do this by hand but obviously the processor is quicker). Add to the broccoli mixture in the pan, then bring the mixture to the boil over medium-high heat. Cover the pan, reduce the heat to medium-low, then simmer for 1 hour or until the broccoli is very soft. Remove the lid and simmer for another 30-40 minutes, until the liquid has reduced by about a third; you can’t overcook it so don’t worry too much about slavishly adhering to cook times. Season to taste with sea and pepper.
Meanwhile, bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil for the spaghetti. Cook the spaghetti for 8-10 minutes until al dente, or cook according to the packet directions. Drain, then return to the pan. Add the long-cook broccoli, toss to combine and season to taste with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Divide among 4 bowls, top with parmesan cheese to taste, then serve with dried chilli flakes, for sprinkling to taste.
