Charred Broccoli With Lemon Food

CHARRED BROCCOLI

Steps:

• Whisk 2 tablespoons each soy sauce and rice vinegar with 4 teaspoons each sesame oil and honey; season with salt and pepper. Thinly slice 2 cups shiitake mushroom caps and 1 shallot; add to the dressing. Toss 2 heads chopped broccoli with vegetable oil; cook on a hot grill pan, 2 minutes per side. Season with salt and pepper. Toss with the dressing, some sesame seeds and a thinly sliced red jalapeno.

CHARRED BROCCOLI, LEMON & WALNUT PASTA

Steps:

• Heat the grill to high. Put the broccoli on a baking tray and drizzle over 1 tsp of the oil. Season, and toss together. Grill for 8-10 mins, tossing around halfway through, until crispy and charred.
• Cook the pasta in salted water following pack instructions. Drain, reserving a cup of the cooking water.
• In a frying pan, heat the remaining 2 tsp oil over a medium heat, and fry the garlic, walnuts and chilli for 3-4 mins until golden.
• Tip in the pasta, broccoli, lemon zest and juice, reserving a little of the zest. Add a splash of the reserved cooking water and toss everything together to coat the pasta. Serve in warmed bowls with the remaining lemon zest scattered over.

CHARRED BROCCOLINI WITH HOMEMADE RICOTTA

Steps:

• Heat a cast-iron skillet or griddle over high heat until smoking. In a medium bowl, drizzle the broccolini with olive oil and season with salt. Toss to coat. Place the broccolini on the hot pan or griddle but do not crowd (if using a 12-inch cast iron you can do two batches) Allow to sear, undisturbed, for 3 to 4 minutes. Flip and cook on the other side for 2 to 3 minutes, until the edges of the florets are a deep brown and the stems are tender and bright green with charring on the edges. Turn off the heat. Return the broccolini to the bowl. Season with a couple turns of black pepper. Add the grated garlic and lemon zest and toss to coat. Season to taste.
• To serve, spoon some Ricotta (recipe follows) in the center of a plate. Arrange the broccolini around the cheese, sprinkle with crushed red pepper flakes, if using, flakey salt and freshly ground black pepper. Serve with lemon wedges.
• Line a colander or large sieve with 1 layer of very fine cheesecloth (or 2 to 3 layers of more porous cloth) and set over a large bowl.
• To make the cheese, combine the milk and salt in a non-reactive pot over medium heat. Heat the mixture, stirring occasionally until it reaches 175 degrees F, 20 to 25 minutes. Turn off the heat and add the lemon juice. Gently stir with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula until chunks form and separate from the whey (this happens within 30 seconds or so). Don't stir too often or vigorously or the curds will break. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the curds into the prepared cheesecloth-lined sieve. Allow to sit and strain for 20 minutes. Serve immediately at room temperature or transfer the ricotta cheese into an airtight container and refrigerate until ready to serve.

GRILLED BROCCOLI AND LEMON WITH CHILE AND GARLIC

Steps:

• Bring a large saucepan of well-salted water to a boil over medium-high. Keep a large bowl of ice water next to it. Meanwhile, trim the broccoli so 2 inches/5 centimeters of stalk remain attached. Cut the broccoli in half lengthwise, then cut each half lengthwise again to give you 4 wedges per head.
• Blanch the broccoli by adding it to the boiling water and cooking for 3½ minutes, until softened. The stalks should retain a nice bite. Use a pair of tongs to remove the wedges and plunge them straight into the ice water to stop them from cooking further. Once completely cool, drain and dry them well, then place in a large bowl.
• Meanwhile, add 6 tablespoons/89 milliliters of oil, the chiles and garlic to a small frying pan and place it over medium heat. Cook for 7 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the garlic is golden and the chiles start to become transparent. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the solids to a plate lined with paper towels and set aside to cool and crisp further.
• Add the anchovies to the pan and place over low heat. Cook gently, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes, until an anchovy is soft enough to be easily squashed with the back of a spoon. Set aside to cool completely.
• Place a large, well-greased grill pan over high heat and ventilate your kitchen well. (See Tip for outdoor grilling.) Toss the broccoli gently with 1½ teaspoons olive oil. Once the pan is very hot, grill the broccoli in 2 batches, turning so that all the flat sides have nice grill marks, 6 to 8 minutes per batch. Transfer to a tray to cool down. Grill the lemon rounds for 1½ minutes per side, until nicely charred, then transfer to a chopping board. When cool enough to handle, finely chop the lemon (skin and all) and transfer to a small bowl along with the lemon juice, parsley and remaining 1½ teaspoons olive oil. Mix well and set aside.
• Once the broccoli has cooled, top with the anchovy oil mixture and toss gently to combine. Arrange on a large serving platter and top evenly with the charred lemon mixture. Lastly, sprinkle over the fried chile and garlic and the flaked salt.

EASY LEMON AND GARLIC BROCCOLI

Steps:

• Place broccoli florets in a large skillet over medium heat. Stir 2 teaspoons lemon juice into water in a small bowl and pour the mixture into the skillet. Cover and steam until broccoli is bright green and tender, 10 to 15 minutes.
• While broccoli is steaming, melt butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat and stir in garlic and salt; turn heat to low and let the garlic gently fry until golden brown, about 8 minutes. Drain water from cooked broccoli and return to skillet; sprinkle with 2 more teaspoons lemon juice and the butter and garlic mixture. Sprinkle broccoli with black pepper, toss to combine, and season with a bit more pepper if desired.

BROCCOLI WITH GARLIC & LEMON

Steps:

• Bring a large pan of water to the boil. Add the broccoli and cook for 4 mins or until just tender. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large frying pan, add the garlic, cook until lightly golden, then add the lemon zest and cook for 1 min more. When the broccoli is cooked, drain well, toss with the garlicky oil, season and serve.