Orecchiette with Broccoli Sauce
Another vegetable I absolutely love is broccoli, so adding it to pasta is for sure one of my favorite dishes. We made this dish the night before 4th of July at the beach. It was the perfect pasta dish to kick off the holiday weekend.
This Wednesday night at the beach we had some interesting weather, so while we were cooking this dish we got to watch an incredible yet a little scary thunderstorm pass through! We have a great view of the water so we watched the storm come and go. It was a quick storm before it cleared and the sun came out! We ate this dish as the sun was breaking, and the rest of the weekends weather stayed beautiful!
Can’t beat a good sunset and pasta dish to start a weekend at the beach!
a. Ingredients:
2 pounds of broccoli crowns; florets cut off and chopped into smaller pieces
1 pound of orecchiette
1/3 cup of olive oil
2 garlic cloves; minced
½ tsp of red chili pepper flakes
Salt and pepper
1 quart of vegetable broth (may not need entire quart; can freeze it or save it for another use)
¼ cup of grated parmesan
b. Directions:
Cook the broccoli in a large pot of salted water until very tender
Meanwhile in a large skillet cook the olive oil with the garlic and chili pepper flakes; add the cooked broccoli florets; add the salt, pepper, and 2 cups of the vegetable broth and cook on low heat
Break the broccoli into small pieces with a fork or wooden spoon to make it like a sauce
Add more vegetable broth as needed and cook on low heat until it becomes a thick sauce for about 10 – 15 minutes
Cook the pasta according to directions and drain; add the pasta to the skillet with the sauce
Add the cheese and salt/pepper if needed; add more vegetable broth if needed
