Adventures in cooking: Broccoli and pasta

[alpharaposa]

Been a while since my last cooking post!

This is a pasta technique I found that helps encourage the cubs to eat more veggies.

Ingredients:
12-16 oz pasta (you can use macaroni, but rigatoni or similar ridged pasta holds the "sauce" better)
Some broccoli - 2-3 large stalks, or 3-4 crowns
A few garlic cloves
cheese
olive oil
salt
water for boiling

Prep:
Cut the florets off the broccoli, then peel the stalks and cut into small pieces - just make sure they're big enough to not drain through your colander.
Peel and smash or mince the garlic
Grate a little more than a cup of cheese.

Cook:
Get a pot of water boiling, enough for the pasta. Salt the water if you normally do when making pasta. Once the water is boiling, add all the pasta and all the broccoli. Cook until the pasta is just done (the lower time listed on the box, usually). Reserve a cup of the liquid, drain the rest.

Put a tablespoon or two of olive oil in the pot and return to medium heat. Add the garlic and stir until the garlic starts to turn golden brown. Add all the pasta and broccoli back into the pot, as well as the cheese. Stir vigorously, and all the broccoli will smash apart and coat the pasta.

Pour about 1/4 cup of the reserved liquid into the pot, stir a bit, then add a little at a time until it looks "saucy" enough for your tastes. Add salt to taste.

Serve with a little more cheese on top, if desired.

When finished cooking, you have green pasta that tastes a lot like broccoli. You can't really call this broccoli disguised because of the taste, but the older werecub gobbles up the green, broccoli coated pasta and not any pieces of broccoli stem that survive the cooking. Maybe it's a texture thing.

Anyway, a good dish if you like broccoli but aren't wild about the texture. Or just like green pasta.

Comments

[xaq.livejournal.com]

Texture is definitely a sticking point for a lot of people. I can't bring myself to eat bananas or strawberries as they are, but blend them up with some OJ into a smoothie and I'm good to go.

[archangelbeth]

You know, I think I'd bet that the broccoli mixes better with cheese that way. It can have a little bit of bitterness, especially in the stems, and cheese smooths that out. And if it's all teenybits of broccoli, then you don't bite into something and get a Broccoli Explosion Of Slightly Bitter without the cheese.

(Kind of like how I was eating almonds while feeding the Sick Cat the crunchy-surrounding-gooey cat treats, and accidentally mixed them up. My kid's still likely to quote, "THAT WAS NOT AN ALMOND!" in my tones of horror after I spat most of that horrible thing out of my mouth...)

[aefenglommung.livejournal.com]

If you'll recall, your mother used to make Cheesy Rice with Broccoli. Same sort of thing. You and Zach ate it up. (So did I, come to that.)

[stryck.livejournal.com]

There is considerably less cheese in this dish, but the principle is similar.