Was it the recipe for broccoli and pasta? If so it's a snap.
Cook the broccoli, a pound or more, in medium sized pieces, but not too done. A little crunch is OK.
While the broccoli is cooking you can also start the pasta water.
Take a hot chile pepper. We bought a whole plant from a neighbor, and hung it in the kitchen. Failing the neighbor's plant, you could use some hot chile flakes. Or add cayenne but not at the start of the recipe.
Cut the stem off the pepper, and slice in half. Remove seeds and inner membrane. Or leave in if you want it hotter. Chop the pepper coarsely.
Heat some olive oil (don't use expensive extra virgin, all the aroma will cook away, or use canola) in a small pot, maybe a butter melter. Heat the pepper gently, ok if it browns a little.
While it's heating, chop a couple of garlic cloves finely. Add to the oil. When it's cooked, set aside.
Chop the broccoli into about 1/2" dice. Put in a larger pot and pour on the oil/chile/garlic. If you want to add tofu, cut into 1/2" squares, or smaller, or even puree it. Add to the mix.
Cook the pasta.
I guess Carolyn D., an official Italian sauce maker, would say to put the broccoli sauce into the pot of drained pasta. But we usually put the pasta in our own plates and add as much sauce as we want.
You can make this with a little or a lot of olive oil. Sometimes I'll add extra virgin in the dish, because it tastes so good. You can also use grated romano cheese.
I don't like tofu all that much, and it just disappears into this dish.
Mary
(12/12/99)
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