Pasta e Broccoli

Most Italians, or at least Southern Italians, will recognise this traditional dish - pasta e broccoli (pasta and broccoli). As a child, you either loved it or hated it. As an adult, you will love the simplicity of this dish and the amount of time it takes to cook (it's very quick). My children all eat it, but best of all, my youngest and fussiest child eats it every time! Hallelujah!

 

 

Pasta e Broccoli

 

Serves 4-6

 

1-2 heads of broccoli

1-2 potatoes

300g spaghetti

oil

salt and pepper

Parmesan cheese (optional)

 

 

1. Clean broccoli and chop up into small pieces. I usually discard the thicker parts of the stem. Apparently, the florets are packed with the most nutrients anyway so this is okay. The florets cook the fastest, and that is why I prefer to just use them and not the thicker stems. However, there is no reason you can't include the stems.

 

2. Peel and chop potatoes into small bite size pieces.

 

3. Place broccoli and potatoes in a saucepan with water. Ensure the saucepan is large enough to also cook the pasta in. Place on stove top on high and bring to the boil. Leave it boil for at least 10 minutes so that the potatoes and broccoli become half cooked.

 

4. Meanwhile, break or snap your spaghetti into 2-3cm pieces. You don't need to be precise, so long as they are short enough to be picked up with a spoon. You can buy spaghetti already cut into smaller pieces but sometimes it's therapeutic to stand there snapping pasta!





The snapped pasta

5. Add the pasta to the half cooked broccoli and potatoes. Season with salt and pepper and add a touch of olive oil. Continue boiling until the pasta is cooked to your liking.

 

6. Then, simply dish out ready for eating. It is lovely served with fresh grated Parmesan on top.

 

 

Notes:

 

Some people mash the broccoli and potatoes up completely before adding the pasta. I have done this in the past when my children refused to eat broccoli, but I'm now able to leave it a little more intact :)

 

Amounts of pasta and other ingredients are easily adjustable and will depend on how many adults/children are eating and whether you are having this dish as a meal on its own or as a starter.

 

Are you familiar with this dish? Do you make it in a different way?