This tasty pasta recipe uses fried purple sprouting broccoli, salty ricotta, and fragrant garlic and chilli to produce an irresistible pasta dish that you'll want to eat weekly. If you can't find ricotta Salata, you can substitute with Pecorino Romano or Parmesan, if needed.
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Yields:
4 serving(s)
Prep Time:
10 mins
Cook Time:
15 mins
Total Time:
25 mins
Cal/Serv:
420
Ingredients
300g
orecchiette pasta
3Tbsp.
extra virgin olive oil
6
marinated anchovy fillets in oil, drained
1
red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
4
garlic cloves, finely sliced
400g
purple sprouting broccoli, trimmed and cut into rough 2cm pieces
finely grated zest and juice 1 lemon
50g
ricotta Salata, grated, see intro, plus optional extra to serve
75
-80g watercress, roughly chopped
Directions
Step 1Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and cook the pasta according to pack instructions. Drain well, reserving 400ml of the cooking water.
Step 2Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large, deep, frying pan over low heat and cook the anchovies, chilli and garlic for 2min, until the anchovies have melted.
Step 3Add the broccoli and fry for 5-8min, adding 200ml reserved cooking water halfway, or until just tender. Stir in the drained pasta, remaining 200ml reserved cooking water, the lemon zest and juice, Ricotta Salata, watercress and plenty of seasoning.
Step 4Toss to combine and check seasoning. Divide between 4 bowls and serve with extra Ricotta Salata, if you like.
An experienced and highly skilled team of food writers, stylists and digital content producers, the Good Housekeeping Cookery Team is a close-knit squad of food obsessives. Cookery Editor Emma Franklin is our resident chilli obsessive and barbecue expert, who spends an inordinate amount of time on holidays poking round the local supermarkets seeking out new and exciting foods. Senior Cookery Writer Alice Shields is a former pastry chef and baking fanatic who loves making bread and would have peanut butter with everything if she could. Her favourite carb is pasta, and our vibrant green spaghetti is her weeknight go-to. Lover of all things savoury, Senior Cookery Writer Grace Evans can be found eating crispy corn and nocellara olives at every opportunity, and will take the cheeseboard over dessert any time (though she cannot resist a slice of tres leches cake). With a wealth of professional kitchen know-how, culinary training and years of experience between them, they are all dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work (and if they don’t – we’ll have the answer for why*) every time (*90% of the time the answer is: “buy an separate oven thermometer”!).
