Romanesco Broccoli And Its Spaghetti

Do you think it's normal that one has to wait until in San Francisco to meet this thing for the first time? I don't know about you, but I'd never seen romanesco broccoli face to face before, and I didn't know what I was missing. It's so beautiful, one almost feels guilty to chop it up.

It's not worth to keep puzzling over the best way to use it. To me, broccoli - romanesco or not - means spaghetti with anchovies and bread crumbs: it's sort of the poor (and ignorant) man's version of the pasta coi broccoli arriminati, which just few days ago won second place in the contest promoted by my friends over at Tzatziki a Colazione.

I'd say very very ignorant in comparison, but so good though!!




Romanesco Broccoli Spaghetti
with Anchovies & Bread Crumbs
for 4 people

spaghetti 320 gr
romanesco broccoli 1
salt cured anchovy fillet 2-3
garlic 2 cloves
olive oil, red hot chili pepper, salt, pepper, bread crumbs to taste

Divide broccoli into florets and boil them briefly in salted water (about 5 minutes or less, they should stay crunchy). Drain and put them on the side, reserving the cooking water, which you'll use to cook pasta.
In a large skillet, heat garlic and red hot chili pepper with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil. Rinse and dry anchovies, eliminate their bone, then add them to the pan and let them dissolve in the oil. Add reserved broccoli florets and cook for few minutes, adding some of the pasta cooking water, until they are tender and the sauce gets creamy. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.
Drain spaghetti al dente and saute them briefly in the same skillet with the sauce. Toast bread crumbs in another pan and sprinkle them on top of pasta. Serve immediately.