I’ve dabbled with the different broccoli varieties over the years; tenderstem and purple sprouting, but I’ve come back to the original broccoli crown as it just tastes so much better than all those other broccoli pretenders out there. In addition to the deliciously delicate florets, the stems become sweet and meltingly tender after 10 minutes of gentle steam frying.
Broccoli is delicate so I use an Italian style of cooking to create this dish. The garlic and extra virgin olive oil steam fried with the florets make the broccoli taste so creamy, it’s as if the broccoli has been submerged in a ton of butter – but it hasn’t!
Miraculous ingredients: Broccoli, extra virgin olive oil
Broccoli with garlic and extra virgin olive oil
Ingredients
300g broccoli (a whole broccoli crown)
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
3-4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
The zest of 1 lemon
coarse sea salt to taste
Method
Cut the broccoli crown into tiny little florets.
Place a dry deep frying pan onto a low heat to warm up while you finely chop the garlic. Once the pan is warm, add the all the olive oil and the garlic and turn the heat to medium. Fry the garlic for 30 seconds, but don’t allow to brown.
Add the little broccoli florets, stir, add 50ml water and a little salt. Cover the frying pan with a lid, turn the heat to low and cook until the broccoli is soft and the water has been absorbed, approximately 10 minutes. If there is still a bit of water left in the pan, take the lid off and turn the heat to high to boil off any remaining water.
The broccoli will take about 8 minutes to soften and cook. Turn off the heat and stir through the lemon zest and liberally drizzle with the best extra virgin olive oil you can buy.
Preparation time 10 minutes, cooking 10 minutes, serves 4