We'd like to shoutout to Eat Seemore Meats & Veggies for their Dam Good (and Humanely raised and certified) sausage, and for this quick, easy, and delicious "Broccoli Melt Orecchiette" recipe.
Also, here's to Ali Slagle for her delightful Garlic Bread recipe that we made on one of our sourdough "Whole Wheat" English muffins!
To make this Broccoli Melt Orecchiette, we followed Seemore Meats & Veggies' recipe:
Ingredient List
- 3 small heads of broccolini (about 1 ½ pounds), rough ends trimmed
- 3 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for drizzling
- 1 package Seemore Broccoli Melt sausages, casings removed
- 1 pound orecchiette
- 3 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 ounces parmesan (about ¾ cup), finely grated, plus more for serving
- 1 small bunch parsley
- Kosher salt
- Crushed red pepper
- Juice and zest of one lemon
Directions:
- Bring a pot of heavily salted water to a boil and blanch broccolini for 1 minute.
- Remove blanched broccolini with a slotted spoon (don’t dump water, it’s for the pasta too) and set aside.
- Heat olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat until shimmering and add Broccoli Melt sausages, crushing them with the back of a wooden spoon to break them up into smaller bits.
- While the sausage is cooking, bring the water back to a boil and add the orecchiette. Set your timer for 3 minutes less than what the package directions tell you do (regardless of what pasta shape you use).
- Once the sausage has started to brown (4-5 minutes), add crushed garlic cloves and lower heat, stirring the mixture occasionally until the garlic is fragrant—about 2 minutes.
- Stir in crushed red pepper and the zest of ½ of your lemon.
- Add chopped broccolini to the sausage mixture along with 3 tablespoons of butter.
- Remove about 1/3 cup of the pasta water (it’s ok if that pasta isn’t done yet) and add it to the Dutch oven, using the water and your wooden spoon to loosen up all the brown bits that have accumulated on the bottom of the pan.
- Let that liquid cook down a bit for about 30 seconds before adding another ¾ cup or so of pasta water.
- Drain your pasta (reserve some water just in case you want your sauce thinner), and add it to the Dutch oven, stirring to coat it with sauce, and cook over medium-low heat for another 2 minutes.
- Add your grated parmesan, stirring constantly.
- Add the remaining lemon zest and the juice of the whole lemon. At this point you should taste for seasoning and adjust to your preference.
- Transfer orecchiette to a large serving bowl and toss with fresh parsley and more cheese before serving."
To make this garlic bread, we used Ali Slagle's recipe from New York Times Cooking:
INGREDIENTS
- ½ cup/8 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick), melted
- 4 fat garlic cloves, grated
- ½ cup Parmesan, grated
- ¼ cup firmly packed chopped flat-leaf parsley
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- Black pepper
- 1 baguette or rustic crusty loaf (we used our vegan sourdough "Whole Wheat" English muffins)
- ½ pound fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced (optional)
PREPARATION
- Heat the oven to 400 degrees. In a small bowl, stir together the butter, garlic, Parmesan and parsley. Add the salt and generously season with pepper. Set aside while you cut the baguette.
- Cut deep slits into the baguette, 1-inch apart — don’t cut all the way through the loaf — and place the baguette on a large piece of foil. Using a teaspoon or an offset spatula, generously spread the seasoned butter inside each slit. Make sure to reach the bottom of the slit; don’t be shy here.
- Wrap the baguette in the foil, place on a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes. Remove the baguette from the oven and unwrap the top (leave the bread on the foil). If you’re adding mozzarella, use the offset spatula or spoon to gently open each slit and tuck a piece of mozzarella in (it’s O.K. if the cheese pops out from the top a little). Return bread to the oven and bake until crisp and golden on top, another 5 minutes. Slice with a serrated knife (or tear with your hands) and serve at once.