In the Key of K

This is a birthday meal for me! I love this dish. Around 25 years ago there was a book store called Borders. They used to sell a line of cookbooks by the publisher Hermes House. They were usually collections of recipes by nationality–Spain, Mexico, Africa, Korea, Finland, etc. The books were almost always in the bargain section so my partner at the time and I bought a bunch of them over several years. The first few we bought had great recipes but as the years went by the quality went down. Anyway, this recipe is based off of one from the ‘Italian’ Hermes House cookbook.

Pasta with Broccoli
InTheKeyOfK

1 pound of pasta (12-16 oz will work fine)
1-2 pounds of fresh broccoli
1/2 to 1 whole head of garlic
1/4 cup of olive oil (any olive oil works but it is best with a good quality evoo–don’t sub other oils it tastes best with olive oil—I’ve also made it oil free but it wasn’t very good).
1 1/2 to 2 cups of pasta water
1 tsp of salt, more to taste
Pepper to taste

First boil some water. I use a fast-boiling tea kettle to save time. While the water boils, trim the broccoli florets and then cut off any hard fiberous parts of the stems. Chop the broccoli stems in to small pieces. Add the broccoli florets and cut stems to the boiling water and boil for five minutes. Remove the broccoli from the water with a slotted spoon.

Boil the pasta in the broccoli water according to the package directions. I’ve used wheat pasta, chickpea pasta, and lentil pasta. All work great. Once the pasta is cooked how you like it strain the pasta but save 1 1/2 to 2 cups of pasta water first (don’t skip this!).

While the pasta is boiling, peel garlic and use a garlic press or mince finely. I always use at least half a head of garlic–5 or 6 large cloves. Cook the garlic in the olive oil for a few minutes until fragrant and starting to brown. Don’t over do it–no one likes burnt garlic. Once it starts to color turn it off.

Add the broccoli and pasta to the garlic and oil and turn the heat back on. Give it a stir and add the pasta water and salt. Taste it. I usually end up adding another half tsp of salt (I don’t salt or oil my pasta water) and maybe some extra garlic powder (I love garlic!). Eat it up!