Orecchietti with Broccoli & Potatoes
Orecchietti con Broccoli e Patate
Pasta in the shape of 'little ears' with a tasty broccoli and potato sauce.
This sauce is traditionally served with orecchiette but could also be served with shells or ditti (little fingers).. any small shape to scoop up the garlicky, piquante, broccoli goodness!
Recipe
Serves 4 or 6 (depending on appetites)
Ingredients
1 tablespoon of salt
500g of orecchiette
1 large head of broccoli or 3 bunches broccolini, chopped into pieces
2 potatoes peeled and chopped into roughly 3 cm pieces
3/4 cup of olive oil
2 small chillies
2 - 3 large cloves of garlic, freshly minced or grated
8 anchovies preserved in oil
1/2 cup fried breadcrumbs (optional)
Method
Begin by boiling a pot of water on high heat, adding a tablespoon of salt
Once the water has reached boiling, add the pasta to cook according to the packet’s instructions
In another smaller saucepan, bring the chopped broccoli and potatoes to boil in water for 10 minutes
Gently heat 1/4 cup of the olive oil in a fry pan, and add chopped chilli, garlic and anchovies
Use a fork to crush these ingredients together through the oil, making sure that the anchovies are broken up.. Do not over heat as the garlic will become bitter
When the pasta is cooked, drain and return to pot and save 1 cup of the cooking water for later use
Drain the water from the broccoli and potatoes after they are cooked through and again, save 1 cup of the water
Crush the potatoes and broccoli with a fork in a bowl making sure that you leave a variety of textures, ie some chunky pieces of broccoli and potato as well some smaller mashed pieces (see photo)
Now its time to combine the pasta; add the broccoli/potato mixture and the anchovy mixture straight into the strained pasta, along with the remaining 1/2 cup of olive oil
Add 1/2 a cup of the saved pasta water and 1/2 a cup of the saved vegetable water to the pasta to emulsify the pasta mixture, adding more if needed. The pasta and suaace should be nice and fluidy NOT mushy.
Allow 2 minutes for the pasta to absorb all the ingredients before serving. Season to taste
Now it's ready to serve with a generous helping of parmigiano cheese. You can also add some freshly fri1ed breadcrumbs for some extra texture if you like.
Enjoy!