Cima di Rapa, Purple Broccoli, Pesto Pasta
My neighbour, Sam inspired this dish. He was raving about our local grocer and how they had some amazing cima di rapa (a descendent from the broccoli family) and he mixed it in with some pesto and fresh orecchiette for a simple supper. I couldn’t stop thinking about it and so this is a version. Cima di rapa is in season at the moment and you can find it knocking about in grocers, but if not, you can just do the broccoli (the purple version is in season at the moment) with some kale. I used a vegan pesto that I had but you can use whatever you have in the fridge. You can of course make your own if you have time. I bought some fresh La Tua tagliatelle and lightly simmered the veg, and this is one of those dishes that makes you feel like you could be in some little roadside restaurant in Tuscany. It’s simple and has a nice home cooking feel to it. The ingredients are simple so make sure you find some nice quality ones.
Vegetarian/DF
Serves 2
Ingredients:
4-5 tbsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves, diced
250g purple sprouting broccoli, ends trimmed and big spears sliced lengthways
300g cima di rapa, prepped the same as broccoli
Juice of half a lemon
1/3 veg stock cube
250g fresh tagilatelle
4 tbsp fresh pesto (Daylesford do a nice vegan one)
Sea salt and black pepper
Set a large frying pan to a high heat and a saucepan to boil for the pasta. Salt the pasta water.
Add the olive oil to the frying pan and after a minute, add the diced garlic. Fry for 1 minute and then add the broccoli and cima di rapa. Fry everything for about 2 minutes, season with salt and pepper. Then add about 100ml hot water from the boiling saucepan and crumble in the stock cube. Reduce the heat and let it simmer. It should be soft but still have a little bite, about 2-3 minutes. Turn off the heat. Throw the pasta into the boiling water and cook for about 1-2 minutes (if using fresh pasta). Then use tongs to add straight to the saucepan along with the pesto and lemon juice. Add a cup of the pasta water to the pan and toss everything together. Season once more and serve with a last drizzle of olive oil.