FOODlog #207: Orecchiette Broccoli

A couple of weeks ago I cooked the staff meal and made an Italian inspired dish. I made orecchiette broccoli. In Italian it means 'ear' as it looks like small ear-shaped pasta and is able to be a wonderful vehicle for any type of pasta sauce.

I made and oil base one with the main ingredient being broccoli.

Orecchiette pasta with broccoli and a sauce made from the broccoli stems blended with garlic oil, dried local chilies, and a tablespoon of tuna (replacing anchovies).

The sauce is cooked with more garlic oil until they are nice and toasted giving out an amazing aroma. It is then thicken with the pasta water making the oil and water into a viscous emulsified sauce that coats the orecchiette pasta beautifully.

Before serving, the dish is topped with Korean chili flakes (gochugaru) and micro grated parmegiano giving the dish another layer of complexity in flavor with a nutty aged kick from the cheese and a warm subtle heat from the gochugaru.

The dish comes through with a pronounced broccoli flavor singing through the dish from the sauce to the perfectly cooked florets.

Different dimensions and flavors of broccoli all in one dish. Absolutely delicious!