revel in thy broccoliness...

..this bit doesn't follow like it does on the other posts.

so, one of my co-workers, dense-face, is a vegetarian (primarily). this is not her defining characteristic, but given the amount of time we spend talking about food, it is important. DF (one of many, many probably inappropriate names) often speaks of the joys of eating simply so that you can really taste the thing you are eating. it is inspiring. this recipe for pasta and broccoli is inspired by DF - it probably contains many more ingredients than she would prefer, and it contains no weeds.

so cut the broccoli up into small florets - really small sort of at the major branch level if you think of broccoli as a tree (one could even make comparisons to fractals here, but that would be way too geeky). include the stalk because it is probably the best bit. fry off a clove of garlic, thinly sliced, in some olive oil and add a whole chilli (not chopped - i just wanted a bit of heat). when the garlic is cooked add the broccoli and fry for a bit, until it is bright green.

before this get the pasta water boiling. just as the broccoli goes bright green, add a splash of water and put the lid on to steam it a little. cook the pasta and drain it.

i tend to do this bit backwards, so bare with me...add the drained pasta back to the pot, and tip in the broccoli. add some herbs (thyme and mint on this occasion) and a big blob of ricotta so that it coats the pasta and broccoli but is not saucy. some cbp (cracked black pepper) finishes it off. this bowlful had some grated PR on it.

this was very very nice. thanks dense-face!