Pasta with broccoli, the unique, true, original, Sicilian recipe

This Sicilian recipe is considered genial, delicious and simple at the same time. It is mainly prepared by using an only simple Sicilian vegetable: broccoli. Beware: this verdure has a different meaning in the several Sicilian towns. If you taste pasta with broccoli in Catania, you’ll find the real pasta with green broccoli on the plate , while if you eat it in Palermo, you’ll find pasta with cauliflower, which is a vegetable with a double color: white and purple. This recipe also contains tomato, while the sauce of the true pasta with broccoli has not tomato. Well, now you have fully understood the difference between the pasta with broccoli and the one with cauliflower, we can turn our attention just to the preparation of the recipe. To make a tasty pasta with broccoli, cut leaves and flower heads of a medium-size broccolo, wash them under the faucet and boil in a pot filled with salted water. Leave to boil until the broccoli have become soft, 20 minutes, at least, overall. In the meanwhile, in another pan, brown olive extra virgin oil, garlic, black olives, pepper, 50g of pine nuts and 50g of raisins. As soon as this sauce the its ingredients have softened, add to the flower heads and the leaves of the broccoli you boiled previously and brown for a few minutes. In the pot where broccoli boiled, add 600 g of bucatini and cook for 10 minutes. Then, remove the pasta from the pot and transfer it into the pan with the browned sauce. Leave on the flame for another five minutes, at least, mix the entire mixture, then turn off the flame, add a lid and leave to rest for further a five minutes. After this time, you can serve and taste this delicious recipe. Don’t forget, before eating this dish, to sprinkle some Sicilian cheese on the sauce with broccoli. The most known Sicilian cheeses are caciocavallo and pecorino.

They are made in the district of Ragusa. Moreover, besides being delicious, pasta with broccoli is also very healthy, because broccoli are vegetables, which belong to the cabbage family, a group of plants that are all recognized to prevent cancer and foster lose weight. These same features belong to the similar recipe with cauliflower, but as I said, this is not the original recipe of the pasta with broccoli. Indeed, the latter is also made with a sauce containing tomato and salted anchovies. In Catania, this recipe is called “ The bastards”, just because, in Palermo, it is mistaken for pasta with broccoli. Where to eat pasta with broccoli in Sicily In addition to prepare pasta with broccoli at your home, you can also eat it during your vacation in Sicily You can order this recipes at the restaurants of Catania and Palermo. Usually , this recipe is offered at the Sicilian taverns specialized in traditional Sicilian recipes. It is also probable, you can eat pasta with broccoli at many Sicilian farmhouses. Hence, to avoid gaining some extra pounds during your Sicilian vacation, book your stay at a farmhouse which prepares ancient, healthy and tasty Sicilian recipes such as pasta with broccoli.