Orecchiette and broccoli from Puglia

Last winter (here - summer there) we had a week in Puglia, right down the bottom of Italy - the heel of the boot. It was an area full of surprises really, and I shall probably talk about it now and then. Their vegetables were amazing, particularly the tomatoes, and the olive oil production was completely dominant. Before we travel to Europe I always try to bone up on what the local food is and one of the unique things from Puglia is the pasta called orecchiette - or little ears. Apparently the joke is that the people from Puglia have big thumbs from pressing out the hollows in the pasta. They are hand-made and shaped like shells, or little ears. And there seem to be two standard dishes - with broccoli and with turnip tops - bit tricky to get those, so we're going with broccoli. Actually I had previously had a version of the broccoli dish a few times - using a recipe I found in Beverley Sutherland Smith's book The Seasonal Kitchen. And the two versions I tried in Puglia were a little plainer than her version. But I'm going to cook her version tonight - because I have broccoli and I have some genuine orecchiette and because her version has become one of our favourite meals. It's non-standard though because it includes tomatoes. However, I thought I would investigate the origins and other versions.

It is said of Puglian food that, like modern Italian food, the cooks of Puglia,

"take a single ingredient and try to capture its unique character, that special something and bring it to the fore." Lonely Planet World Food - Italy

In this instance we are taking two - the orecchiette and the broccoli.

First of all the orecchiette. Yes you can use shells instead and also penne often seems to get substituted but in this instance I do have some genuine orecchiette which I bought somewhere - maybe Aldi, maybe the Colonial Food Store in Doncaster. Who knows. Maybe somebody gave it to me as a gift. Anyway they look exactly like the ones in the picture at the top of the page. Jamie Oliver has a lesson on how to make them if you're keen - click here to learn how. Or go to a gourmet kind of pasta place and buy some. Maybe the supermarket has them too. In reading up for this article I saw that they talk about them taking longer to cook than other pasta. We shall see. Or use shells or penne.

As for the broccoli - well, the only thing I have in common with George Bush is that I'm not a real fan of broccoli. I think it looks beautiful, which is how I get tempted to buy it every now and then, but I think it is pretty tasteless really and a bit too grainy. However, in this dish it shines. I prefer cauliflower and you can substitute cauliflower for the broccoli if you like. But I do have broccoli today - it's cheap at the moment and I do have tomatoes.

Not that tomatoes are a feature of the classic dish which is really pretty simple. - Anchovies seem to be compulsory and cheese and chilli, but otherwise it's pretty much just broccoli and pasta - and I have to say that I had it more or less like this in Puglia and it was OK, but not stunning. The tomatoes really give it a lift. I also saw some recipes with sultanas - Delia for one adds these. Pine nuts too. Which sounds a little bit more Sicilian to me.

So before I give you Beverley Sutherland Smith's recipe - here are two of the more classic version - one from Jamie Oliver who is big into Italian food and one from The Silver Spoon which might just be the authority on Italian food. Pictures below (Jamie on the left, The Silver Spoon on the right):

broccoli-pasta

broccoli-pasta-2

BROCCOLI AND ANCHOVY ORECCHIETTE - from Happy Days with the Naked Chef by Jamie Oliver. (This recipe is not on his website although he does have a similar recipe for Casarecce with broccoli and anchovies.)

2 large heads of broccoli, 2 large cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped, 8 anchovy fillets, 2-4 small dried red chillies, crumbled, to your taste, 4 good knobs of butter, 455g dried orecchiette, sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, 2 good handfuls of grated Parmesan cheese, to taste.

Using a small knife, trim round the broccoli to remove the dark green flowers from the green stalks and put them to one side. Peel the stalk, trim off the dry end and throw this away. Finely chop the stalk and put into a large pan with the garlic, anchovies, chillies and half the butter. Cover with a lid and cook slowly for 8-10 minutes while you cook your pasta in boiling salted water. This should take about the same length of time - check the packet. Something I like to do which is slightly different (but better, I'd like to think) is to cook the broccoli flowers with the pasta for the last 4 minutes - this makes them soft enough to eat but leaves them with great colour and texture.

Drain the pasta and broccoli, saving a little of the cooking water, then toss into the other pan. Remove the pan from the heat. Season to taste with salt, pepper, the rest of the butter and a large handful of Parmesan. Mix well, adding a little of the cooking water if necessary to loosen the pasta and make it shine. Serve immediately sprinkled with the rest of the Parmesan.

ORECCHIETTE WITH BROCCOLI - from The Silver Spoon

800g broccoli, cut into florets, 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 garlic clove, chopped, 1 fresh chilli, seeded and chopped, 300g orecchiette, salt, Parmesan or pecorino cheese, freshly grated, to serve.

Cook the broccoli in salted boiling water for 5 minutes, then drain. Heat the olive oil in a saucepan, add the garlic and chilli and cook for 3 minutes, then add the broccoli and cook over a low heat sitting occasionally, for 5 minutes until tender. Meanwhile, cook the orecchiette in a large pan of salted water for 10 minutes until al dente, then drain and toss with the broccoli. Serve with Parmesan or pecorino. Alternatively the broccoli may be cooked with the orecchiette. In this case, drain everything, then drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with grated pecorino.

So finally to the non-standard version I am making tonight. It's a fine example of how one of those classic peasant dishes that has been around for centuries gets slightly altered by everyone who likes to cook. Anyone who likes to cook enjoys fiddling with recipes I think. You get to learn what goes with what and you experiment from a basic idea. In this case - just two ingredients - broccoli and pasta. No picture though. You will have to imagine!

PASTA WITH BROCCOLI AND TOMATO - from The Seasonal Kitchen by Beverley Sutherland Smith

1/2 cup fresh brown breadcrumbs, about 3 tablespoons olive oil, 4 large ripe tomatoes, peeled and roughly diced, 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped, 4 anchovy fillets, roughly chopped, 1 small chilli, deseeded and finely chopped, salt and pepper, 300g pasta, 500g broccoli

Put the crumbs and oil in a frying pan over a high heat and stir until the crumbs are a deep gold/light-brown colour and very crisp. Transfer to a plate. Gently cook the tomatoes with garlic in the pan for about 10 minutes until softened. Add the anchovy and chilli and season well.

Cook the pasta in a large saucepan with plenty of boiling salted water. Separate the broccoli flowerets and peel and slice the stalks thinly. When the pasta is almost ready, add the broccoli to the water and cook for about 4 minutes or until just tender. Drain both pasta and broccoli in a colander leaving a little moisture on the pasta. Warm the tomato again and toss through the pasta so it is well coated. Spoon into bowls or on to a platter and at the last minute toss on the crumbs. (If you do this too soon they will soften and lose the contrast of textures.) Serve 2.

And I almost forgot Stephanie Alexander. Her version has no tomatoes but does have the breadcrumbs. Her 'sauce' consists of fried anchovies, olives and garlic. So yet another variation.

So go do your own thing with orecchiette and broccoli.