📋 Italian Cavatelli And Broccoli (No Stock)

📋 Italian Cavatelli And Broccoli (No Stock)

To make creamy Cavatelli and broccoli the Italian way, you need to keep it simple. The main ingredients are only three, Cavatelli, broccoli, garlic; salt, and olive oil for seasoning, served with Parmesan.

Course Pasta

Cuisine Italian

Keyword cavatelli with broccoli, orecchiette with broccoli, pasta with broccoli

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 20

Total Time 30

Servings people

Calories 567kcal

Author Laura Tobin

Equipment

Ingredients

1 lb Cavatelli or Orecchiette
1 head Broccoli
2 cloves peeled garlic cloves
3 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon salt in the boiling water
3 dried hot chili optional, the quantity depends on how spicy they are

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Boiling the broccoli

Bring to boil a large pan of water with a tablespoon of salt
1 tablespoon salt
Boil for 10 minutes the broccoli that has been rinsed and cut into florets
1 head Broccoli

Preparing the broccoli sauce

While the broccoli is boiling, stir fry two chopped garlic cloves in extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves peeled garlic cloves, 3 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
If you like spicy food, add some chili peppers
3 dried hot chili
Remove the broccoli without draining the water
Keep the water boiling and add some more if necessary
When the broccoli is ready, add them to the frying pan
Stir fry with the garlic and the chili peppers

Boiling the pasta

Boil the Cavatelli in the same water as the broccoli
1 lb Cavatelli
If the water stops boiling when you add the cavatelli, cover the pan until the water boils again, then remove the lid

Finalizing the dish

Once the Cavatelli have released some starch into the water, take a cup
Pour the water over the broccoli and let them simmer
While the Cavatelli are boiling, the smaller broccoli florets will slightly break down, forming a creamy sauce
Add the cavatelli and stir until the sauce and the pasta are combined
Serve Cavatelli with broccoli sprinkled with freshly grated Parmesan cheese or Pecorino

Video

Notes

If you like broccoli with a tender but firm texture, boil them for only 10 minutes. If you like them soft, boil them for 15 to 20 minutes, although they will fall apart.
Once you remove the broccoli from the boiling pan, if too much water has evaporated, add some more water and bring it to a boil before adding the pasta
Do not leave the lid over the boiling pasta pot, as eventually, the water will spill over.
The water with the starch from the cavatelli will make the sauce creamy. That is why the chicken stock is not necessary
You want to have some broken creamy broccoli to form a sauce and some firm and chunky florets to give some texture.
Add chili pepper if you like it spicy or sausage for a more complete meal, but there is no need to add any stock or cream.

Adding sausage:

you can mix chopped sausages in the pan with broccoli to make it a complete meal. They should be previously cooked in the oven as they will not cook enough in the pan with the broccoli. You can also cook the sausage in the frying pan, then add the broccoli if you want to flavor the sauce with the fat from the sausage.

Nutrition