Broccoli with Garlic, Red Pepper, and Parmesan
I love broccoli no matter how it’s cooked, and when I buy it I often wind up simply steaming it and tossing it in a little bit of butter. Or a lot of butter, depending on my mood.
But I was feeling a little more adventurous the other week when I got a head of broccoli from my CSA. I had made this Broccoli with Garlic and Ginger last Christmas and wanted to continue with my broccoli innovation.
I found this simple recipe with garlic, red pepper, and parmesan in Deborah Madison’s Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. It is a nice change of pace from steamed broccoli with butter and barely takes any longer to prepare.
And it looks nice, too, which means any guests you serve it to are liable to think it’s fancier than it is. This is always a good thing, because as any good host knows, every good dinner party begins with deceit.
Broccoli with Garlic, Red Pepper, and Parmesan
1 head broccoli
2-3 cloves garlic (more or less to taste)
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes (also more or less to taste)
salt
parmesan cheese
1. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Meanwhile chop broccoli into florets and thinly slice garlic.
2. When water boils, add broccoli florets. The goal here is to pre-cook them almost to the tenderness you want. Some people like crunchy broccoli, some like mushy, so I leave that up to you. 3-4 is crunchy, 5-6 is tender, 7-8 is quite soft, and 10 is Gerber broccoli mash. Keep in mind that the broccoli will cook a little bit more in oil afterward. Remove broccoli, drain, and run under cold water to stop cooking.
3. Heat a thin layer of oil over medium heat and saute garlic until soft. Add red pepper flakes and saute another minute to release heat. Add broccoli and salt, increase heat to medium high and saute for about two minutes.
4. Put the cooked broccoli into or onto whatever you’re serving it with. Now the fancy part: Take a wedge of parmesan or parmigiano or similar hard Italian cheese and shave it onto the broccoli using a vegetable peeler. Grind pepper over the whole affair.
5. Let sit for a minute so the cheese melts and serve, dampening brow slightly to feign breaking a sweat.
Kevin, if you’re a broccoli fan, you might try using this sauce that Merridee Harper’s husband, David Blumberg, served on broccoli, using umeboshi paste, a Japanese plum paste that you can buy:
“of course, there is no recipe…
for a large bunch o’ broc try:
1/3 C mayo
2Tbl ume paste
1 Tbl chopped garlic
1 TBL dried dill (or some fresh if you have it)
mix in a bowl, after you cook broc, add about a TBL of the hot water from the pot to the sauce to thin it…then add the broccoli…can be eaten cold or hot.”
Interesting. I confess to having only tried Ume once and did not really care for it. It’s really bitter isn’t it?
Kevin – we made this on Monday. Super simple and tasty!