Serves 4
A classic southern Italy favourite… Delicious and mighty healthy! You can get orecchiette in various supermarkets in the UK, Tesco and Sainsbury’s to name two; they are small pasta shapes, which (at a push!) resemble wee ears (orecchie). I found the best variety of broccoli to use (that I can find in Scotland) are the purple sprouting kind. You do however get pretty decent results with any other broccoli kind. I substituted the traditional anchovies that the canonical recipe requires with soy sauce to keep the recipe veg-n
- 500 g Purple Sprouting Broccoli
- 2 Garlic cloves
- 400 g Orecchiette
- Dark Soy Sauce
- Dry white wine
- Olive Oil
- Salt and Pepper
Trim the broccoli by removing any tough stem bits and drop into a large pot of boiling water. after 10-15 minutes test them with a fork, they should be quite soft but not about to disintegrate. At that point add the orecchiette and set a timer for the time indicated on the packet.
While the pasta is cooking finely chop the garlic and heat gently in a large pan with a good few lugs of olive oil, about 6 tbs. Sautee the garlic for a couple of minutes and add half a glass of white whine. When the wine has largely evaporated (about 5 minutes) add a tbs of the soy sauce, stir and cook for a further couple of minutes, then switch off.
When the pasta is cooked (I recommend tasting it rather than trusting the manufacturer) drain it and pour the whole thing in the large pan with the garlic.
Mix well and serve immediately.