Leftovers threatened to sabotage our dinner plates with only carbs and protein. The grouse and remaining mac n’ cheese were certainly tasty, but not colorful enough for a festive fall meal. Good old broccoli came to the rescue, with the help of a recipe from Sunday Suppers at Lucques by Suzanne Goin, again, one of my favorite cookbooks, and an excellent source of ideas for seasonal eating.
You’ll need: 3/4 cup fresh breadcrumbs; 1/2 cup olive oil; 1/2 cup pine nuts (see my variation below); 1 Tbs sliced flat-leaf parsley; 1 pound broccoli (or cauliflower or broccolini) trimmed; 6 Tbs unsalted butter; 2 tsp minced salt-packed anchovy; 1/2 chile de arbol, sliced thinly on the diagonal; 2 tsp minced garlic; 1 tsp thyme leaves; 1 pound burrata or fresh mozzarella (see my variation); 1/4 cup shallots; a wedge of a lemon; salt and pepper
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil over high heat. Toss the breadcrumbs with 1 Tbs olive oil. Spread them on a baking sheet and toast 8 to 10 minutes, stirring once or twice until golden brown and crispy. Spread the pine nuts on another baking sheet and toast them 4 to 5 minutes, until they’re golden brown and smell nutty. Crush half the pine nuts, and combine them with the whole pine nuts, breadcrumbs, and parsley in a small bowl. Season with salt and pepper.
*If you don’t have a pinyon tree in your yard, try using walnuts for this recipe instead. We have an abundance of Juglans nigra (black walnut) in our area, and have waited for many car tires to pass over the heavy outer (hand-staining) casks in order to release the inner shell. After leaving the inner shells to dry for a week or so, we break them open for the meat. A hammer and some muscle employed from the get-go would accomplish this all much more quickly.
Blanch the broccoli in the rapidly boiling water for 2 to 3 minutes, until just tender. Drain and cool. Meanwhile, heat the remaining 7 Tbs olive oil and the butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Add the anchovy and chile and cook 5 minutes, stirring with a wooden spoon as the anchovy melts into the sauce. Add the garlic and thyme and turn off the heat. The garlic will finish cooking in the hot oil. Season with a 1/2 tsp salt.
(as always, experiment with different ingredients when you don’t have what is listed. Try a different chile or ‘hot’ taste in this recipe)
Cut the mozzarella into 6 slices, and then cut each slice in half. (I didn’t have this and ended up just used shredded romano). Heat a large saute pan over high heat for 1 minute. Add the anchovy butter, shallots and broccoli and season with salt, pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice. Toss well to warm the broccoli and coat it with the anchovy butter. Taste for seasoning.
Arrange half the broccoli on a large platter in one layer. Tuck half the mozarrella slices among the broccoli, and continue layering the remaining broccoli and mozarrella. Shower the pine nut breadcrumbs over the top.
Bon appetit!
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