| Hi,
I made this dish on this past Saturday and definitely needed the entire
cup of olive oil. I started out with 1/2 a cup but it coated the broccoli
and green peppers with nothing left in the frying pan. By the end of the
process, I had added the entire cup. This was not too much dressing
for an entire pound of rotini.
Steve
|
| > [...] definitely needed the entire cup of olive oil. I started out with
> 1/2 a cup but it coated the broccoli and green peppers with nothing left
> in the frying pan. By the end of the process, I had added the entire
> cup. This was not too much dressing for an entire pound of rotini.
As we have a standing need for no-fuss cookery, I've been getting a
passable broccoli/pasta salad (some of the same stuff .0 mentions) at
Stop+Shop's deli counter, discarding the 2 or 3 hunks of limp/chewy
yellowish broccoli, and instead steaming (or blanching) a bunch of
fresh florets to mix in just before serving.
I can mix equal volumes of florets and pasta-part, stir up good, and
the dressing that came on the pasta suffices. Both rotini and
broccoli, with all those nooks and crannies, are champs at vanishing
your oil -- but you may not need near as much as they'll soak up.
Try *not* saut�ing the broccoli and see how it works.
-JwT
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| Here's My Recipe for "Broccoli & Maccaroni"
1/4 - 1/2 Cup Olive Oil (so oil covers bottom of pan 1/2" deep)
1 & 1/2 Head Broccoli (cut in med-large florets)
1/4 Cup Italian Bread Crumbs
4 cloves garlic (minced or chopped fine)
Dash or two Red Pepper Flakes (optional)
1 lb. Rotini or Orichette ("little hats")
In 8 qt. sauce pan boil 4-6 quarts of well salted water. When it comes
to a complete boil, add pasta of choice.
In separate saute pan, saute garlic in oil 1-2 minutes on medium heat
(do not brown garlic). Add in red pepper flakes and Italian bread crumbs--
saute for a minute or two more (the bread crumbs help the garlic/oil
sauce to cling to the pasta). Remove from heat.
Add broccoli florets to pasta & boiling water 7 MINUTES before pasta is
cooked. Yes, to do this right, you kind of need to know how long the
pasta takes to cook--otherwise somthing will be mushy... I found the
broccoli cooks perfectly in 7 minutes. If it gets over-cooked it will
fall apart. Before draining the pasta & broccoli, reserve 1 cup of the
pasta/broccoli water and set aside. Drain pasta & broccoli.
Toss ingredients together (except for the reserved cup of water). The
pasta water is flavored with the pasta & broccoli and you can use it to
add to the sauce (so that the amount of oil is reduced in the recipe--but
the flavor is not lost). Start with only 1/4 cup of the water & toss.
If you need more sauce, add more water. Be sure to keep tasting in-
between so that it does not get too watered down. Using good pasta
will help a lot. I find that some of the cheaper brands really drink
up the sauce quickly and tend to be more starchy...
Enjoy!
Karima
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