Broccoli are now in season and here is a typical Sicilian pasta recipe of "Cavatieddi cu i vruocculi" you will certainly enjoy.
There are various versions of pasta with broccoli in Sicily, you can find recipes which include anchovies or pork sausage among the ingredients. This is a vegetarian version, mostly used in the South-East area of the island, which uses both young and mature ragusano cheese. Here I pair it with home-made cavatelli, a perfect winter first course or even piatto unico.
Below is the recipe to make the cavatelli with the traditional method as well as the directions to prepare the broccoli sauce.
Ingredients for the Cavatelli
500gr Hard wheat flour (strong wheat flour/semolina);
Tepid water; 1 tbsp salt.
Preparation
Mix the flour with warm, salted water until you get dough with the consistency of bread, quite firm. Knead the dough and form 1cm thick spaghettoni, then cut it into 1 cm small portions and roll each piece on a fork (or special wooden cavatelli/gnocchi board) with your thumb, thus making the "cavatieddi," which are like little seashells.
When they are all ready, leave them in the air to dry. While you're making the cavatelli keep the remaining dough covered with a towel so that it does not dry out (for more details watch the video below).
Ingredients for the Broccoli sauce
500 g broccoli; 1 tbsp raisins;
6 tbsp young ragusano cheese (if not available use provola cheese);
6 tbsp matured ragusano cheese (if not available use parmesan cheese);
Extra virgin olive oil; Salt;
Ground black pepper.
Preparation
Clean the broccoli and steam or blanch in abundant water with a pinch of bicarbonate of soda to keep their bright colour. Soak the raisins in tepid water and prepare shavings of both young and mature cheese. Saute’ the broccoli with extra virgin olive oil, drain the raisins and add them to the pan, mix in the pasta (cooked al dente in the broccoli cooking water) and add the two kinds of cheese shavings. Taste and, if necessary, add salt. (for more details watch the video below).
Finish off with a pinch of freshly ground pepper and toasted pine-nuts before serving.
The video explains how to make cavatelli and the full recipe "Cavatelli with Broccoli and Raisins".
