Pasta con broccoletti is one of my favourite pastas to have during the winter. It’s wholesome, very easy to make, and naturally vegan. My Nonna taught me how to make this dish a few years ago, and ever since then I’ve made it frequently on my own. However, nothing can compare to your own Nonna’s cooking. Unfortunately, I tend to only come back to Sicily during the summer, when broccoletti aren’t in season. This past winter my grandmother very thoughtfully froze some of the fresh crop for me to enjoy this summer. We made it today for lunch and it was so delicious I had to share the recipe!

Ingredients:

Serves 4:

• 2-4 cloves of garlic
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• approx 350-400 grams of broccoletti/tenderstem broccoli/baby broccoli (or normal broccoli)
• salt, to taste
• pepper, to taste
• (OPTIONAL) nutritional yeast, to taste
• approx 340 g of linguine or spaghetti (choose a gluten-free pasta if desired)

Instructions:

1. Either steam or boil the broccoletti until very tender.
2. In a medium-sized pot, bring water to a boil, add salt, and cook pasta according to the instructions (if you boiled the broccoletti, use the same pot and water).
3. Once you’ve started boiling the pasta, in a medium-sized saucepan, heat olive oil on low-medium heat.
4. Add the minced/finely-chopped cloves of garlic to the pan and stir, being careful not to let it burn, before adding the steamed broccoletti (whole or chopped). Mix well.
5. Once the pasta is cooked, add it to the saucepan and stir well.
6. Season it to taste. If it seems a bit dry, you can add more olive oil or some of the water in which the pasta was boiled.
7. Serve and enjoy!