Pasta sausage and broccoli

"I love that you boil the broccoli in the same water you use for the pasta... tasteful, colourful and efficient at the same time!" 

 

Ingredients

• 1 or 2 broccoli (depending on how big they are)
• 2 sausages (usually plain pork)
• 1 or 2 garlic cloves
• 500g short pasta (i.e. Penne or Fusilli)
• olive oil for cooking
• 1/4 glass of white wine
• extra virgin olive oil for serving
• rock/coarse salt (for the water)
• salt and pepper

Tools

• 26/28cm saucepan
• 5 litres pot
• good kitchen knife and chopping board
• colander
• wooden spoon
• plastic/metal slotted spoon (it has holes on the concave end!)

Preparation

• Fill 3/4 of the pot with water and put on medium/high heat  
• Cut the broccoli heads off the body and wash them quickly
• Peel the garlic
• Put 2/3 tablespoons of olive oil in the pan
• Open the sausages to take out the meat

Cooking

• When the water boils add 3/5 teaspoons of coarse salt and add the broccoli (they will cook in 10/15 min - you can do the below in the meantime)
• Put the pan with oil and garlic on medium/high heat
• When the garlic has browned a little add the sausage 
• Use the wooden spoon to break up the sausage in small pieces as it cooks
• Add a sprinkle of white wine and cook on high heat until it reduced
• When the broccoli are ready (check by cutting one of the biggest heads using a knife, if you can do it easily then it's ready) use the slotted spoon to pick them up
• Hold the colander on top of the boiling water and drop the broccoli in it as you pick them up with the spoon, so that the water drains back into the pot
• When you got all the broccoli, turn the pan on high heat and add the broccoli to the sausage, add freshly ground pepper and mix well for a couple of minutes
• When the water boils again add the pasta and cook according to the packaging
• When the pasta is ready, drain it using the colander and add it to the sauce in the pan whilst mixing well

Serving

• Add some fresh extra virgin olive oil and ground pepper on each plate

Tips

The trick to cook this pasta quickly is in the sequence of events. Put the water on high heat first. Whilst it heats up you can easily cut and wash the broccoli and prepare the sausage and garlic. You can then add the broccoli and prepare the sausage in the pan so that by the time the sausage is ready, the broccoli are ready too and you can just add them into the pan without any pause in the cooking of the sauce. If you put the pasta soon after removing the broccoli from the water, by the time you have finished your sauce you will have to wait just 5 minutes to drain the pasta and add it to the sauce in the pan. All in all, it's a fairly quick and very tasty pasta to make! And remember, less oil for cooking and more for serving will make the dish juicy and healthy at the same time.