If you can boil water and use a knife, you can make this pasta. In fact, I often make this when I'm drunk.
(Warning: do not boil water or use a knife while drunk.)
- 1 medium head broccoli, including stem
- 1 lb short pasta (such as penne, farfalle, fusilli, etc.)
- 4 tbsp butter, cut into two-inch cubes
- Salt
- Pepper (optional)
- Parmesan cheese, grated
Directions
Bring five quarts of salted water to boil. Meanwhile, cut the florets off the head of broccoli and coarsely chop or separate them into uniform pieces. Cut both ends off the stem and then peel or cut the hard green skin off the outside, leaving only the pale green/white inner pith. Coarsely chop the pith. Add broccoli to boiling water, lower heat to a high simmer, and cook until both the florets and the broccoli pith are fork-tender, about seven to eight minutes. Use a slotted spoon or skimmer to remove the broccoli. Mash the broccoli with a fork. Salt to taste. Cover and set aside.
Bring broccoli cooking water back to boil. Add pasta and cook until al dente. Drain, reserving a ladle-full of the cooking water. Mix pasta, mashed broccoli, butter, salt, (pepper) and Parmesan, adding enough reserved cooking water to allow the sauce to nicely coat the pasta. Serve warm.
Tip: See my Eight Tips for Cooking Fantastic Italian Pasta to make sure the pasta comes out well.
Variations
Cook the broccoli and pasta together, simply adding each to the boiling water in enough time for the broccoli to come out soft and the pasta to come out al dente. Drain together and mix with the other ingredients. (You may want to cut the broccoli in smaller pieces if you choose this method.)
