Tag: broccolini

Lidia Bastianich’s Ziti with Broccolini and Sausage

.Reading time 3 minutes.

Serves: 4

Excited! Nat is just over five months pregnant with baby #4, our first girl!

The spell is broken!

Our schedule of long lunches has been tempered somewhat and much less wine is being decanted. Though we’re having a girl!

It hasn’t meant the cooking has dialed down however. Quite the opposite.

Nat has gone headfirst into dough. Breads, pastry and pasta.

Especially the pasta, where we are determined with each cook to find just brilliant pasta. Stuff that screams: how good is life.

It starts with fresh pasta. In this instance, ziti, a small thin tube similar to a penne.

If making your own pasta, we always use this amazing Kitchenaid pasta dough recipe and suggest you do too!

And this sauce. Which I have adapted slightly and which is just sublime.

Almost as good as it gets. The second pasta we have cooked with a residual liquid which is just fun, so bloody good. Half the point of the dish. (Check out this white ragu which is just incredible.)

My point on the adaptation is a few.

I found the recipe on Lidia’s website and it didn’t quite translate.

I’ve crumbled the sausage meat here. Halved the broccoli and then used broccolini instead, which I cut into 3cm pieces. And guessed at the butter – measurement missing otherwise – which based on her previous recipes, was on the mark.

As Nat says, you need things to look forward to during the waiting period and pasta seems to have become our thing. No complaints there and absolutely no complaints with this pasta.

Sublime as I said. 1 hat good. Totally great restaurant stuff.

Ingedients

1 tbsp olive oil
500gm Italian sausage meat, removed from skins
500gm broccolini
3 tsp sea salt
500gm ziti
3 large garlic cloves, crushed
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp chilli flakes
1 c chicken stock
3 tbsp unsalted butter
1/2 c grated Parmesan

Method

  1. Heat the olive oil in a pan over a medium-heat and pan fry the sausage meat, breaking it up as you go. Fry until slightly browned, drain from the oil and set aside.
  2. Wash the broccolini, drain and cut into 3cm pieces.
  3. Heat a large pot with boiling water and cook the ziti until al dente.
  4. In a large, deep, heavy skillet with a fitted lid, heat the olive oil, add the garlic and sauté, uncovered until golden, about 2 minutes. Add the broccolini, 1/4 tsp salt and pepper flakes, cover, and steam 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  5. Stir in the sausage. Add the butter and stock and cook uncovered, over a high heat, about 3 minutes, until the liquids are slightly reduced.
  6. Add the drained pasta to the sauce and toss gently. Sprinkle on half the cheese, toss again, serve immediately and distribute the remaining cheese over the pasta.

Almond and Broccolini Salad

.Reading time 1 minute.

Serves: 6

Yum.

Our eldest boys, Oliver and Tom made us dinner the other night.

Meatballs with halloumi and pine nuts… and this dish on the side, found by Oliver after some very diligent online research.

It’s really good and definitely something for a summer BBQ.

Well done boys.

Ingredients

2 bunches broccolini, ends trimmed
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup currants (or raisins)
2 tbsp shaved Parmesan cheese
2 tbsp slivered almonds, toasted
1 tsp grated lemon zest

Method

  1. Blanch the broccolini in boiling water until the stems are tender-crisp; 2 minutes or so. Refresh in ice water and set aside.
  2. Transfer broccolini to a serving platter. Drizzle with oil and lemon juice; sprinkle with currants, Parmesan cheese, almonds and lemon zest.

Quinoa, Broccolini and Asparagus Salad

.Reading time 3 minutes.

Serves: 4 as a side

An unusual salad to write up on the coldest day in Sydney this year, though the house is warm and for a healthy Monday evening, there isn’t much not to love.

Let’s start with healthy: 217 calories a serve.

Taste? Fresh, clean, green and wholesome.

Ease? Way up there.

The quinoa is a bit of a star adding weight and nourishment, though it all pulls together and makes you feel like you are eating your way through a green garden.

And with plenty left for tomorrow‘s lunch – with the smoky barbequed salmon we also cooked tonight, flaked on top – as long as the office is warm, this is an awesome, filling meal the next day.

From Tobie and Georgia Puttock’s book, The Chef gets Healthy.

Ingredients

2 heaped tbps low fat plain Greek-style yoghurt
Sea salt and cracked pepper
2 small handfuls of mint leaves
2 pinches ground cumin
¾ cup (150gm) quinoa
1 bunch broccolini, ends trimmed and cut into 3cm lengths
1 bunch asparagus, end trimmed and cut into 3cm lengths
1 bulb baby fennel
1 tbsp salted baby capers, rinsed and roughly chopped
1 small handful of dill, chopped
Finely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
Extra virgin olive oil for drizzling

Method

  1. Place the yoghurt in a bowl and season with salt and pepper. Finely chop half the mint leaves and mix into the yoghurt. Sprinkle with a pinch of cumin, cover and place in the fridge until needed.
  2. Toast the quinoa in a heavy-based saucepan over a medium heat, stirring continuously for 2 minutes. Add 2 cups (500ml) water and bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and hold at a simmer for 15 minutes. Turn off the heat and set aside, covered, for 5 minutes to allow the quinoa to absorb any remaining liquid. Transfer the quinoa to a large bowl and place in the fridge covered for about 10 minutes to cool.
  3. Bring a saucepan of salted water to the boil and blanch the broccolini and asparagus for 1 minute; drain and refresh under cold water. Set aside.
  4. Remove the stalks from the fennel bulb. Reserve the fronds and discard the stalks. Cut the fennel in half lengthways, then slice into thin strips. Place in a bowl of ice water to keep fresh and crisp.
  5. Remove the cooled quinoa from the fridge. Add the broccolini, asparagus, fennel, capers, dill, lemon zest and juice, remaining mint leaves and a pinch of cumin, reserved fennel fronds and a good drizzle of olive oil. Mix carefully by hand and season.
  6. Serve with a dollop of the yoghurt mixture on top.