Broccoli and capers pasta

 

It’s Monday today, so here is my vegetarian recipe for Meatless Monday!

I made these simple and tasty pasta with fresh broccoli from the souq. Broccoli is an excellent source of vitamins K, C, folate and chromium, and a very good source of dietary fibre, vitamins B6, E, B2, A, pantothenic acid, manganese, phosphorus, choline, potassium and copper.

The quantity here serve 2. It’s ready in 35 minutes or so.

Ingredients

• 2 cups of fresh broccoli cut into florets
• Salt
• Water
• 1 ½ to 2 cups (150 g to 200 g) of dry (whole wheat or not) fusilli pasta
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil + for drizzling
• 1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed
• 2 tablespoons of capers, rinsed and drained
• 14 raw almonds, roughly chopped
• A pinch of crushed cayenne pepper
• ¼ cup of half and half
• Pepper
• Freshly grated Parmesan

Preparation

In a medium saucepan over high heat, boil the broccoli in salted water until tender, 4 minutes. Take the broccoli with a slotted spoon from the saucepan, keeping the cooking liquid to cook the pasta, and set aside.

Cook the pasta in the broccoli cooking liquid, until al dente. Remove from the heat, reserve ¼ cup of the cooking liquid and drain the pasta. Return them to the pan, and cover with a lid/tea towel to keep the heat.

In a cooking pot over medium-high heat, heat the olive oil with the garlic. Add the broccoli, and lightly smash it with a fork. Add the capers, almonds, and cayenne pepper, and cook for 2 minutes stirring often. Turn down the heat to medium, and stir in the half and half, ¼ cup of the broccoli/pasta cooking liquid, season with salt and pepper, and cook stirring often until slightly reduced.

Stir the pasta into the sauce, and cook 1-2 minutes more to warm them up. Before serving drizzle with some olive oil and sprinkle with Parmesan, toss well, and eat at once!