Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking - Marcella Hazan [226]
3. Choose a saute pan or skillet that can accommodate all the broccoli without crowding it too tightly. Put in the olive oil and garlic, and turn on the heat to medium. Cook and stir the garlic until it becomes colored a pale gold, then add the broccoli, salt, and the chopped parsley. Turn the vegetable pieces over 2 or 3 times to coat them thoroughly. Cook for about 2 minutes, then transfer the contents of the pan to a warm platter and serve at once.
Ahead-of-time note Prepare the broccoli up to this point several hours ahead of time on the same day you will be serving it, but do not refrigerate.
Variation with Butter and Parmesan Cheese
For 6 servings
1 bunch fresh broccoli, trimmed, washed, cooked, and drained as described above
3 tablespoons butter
Salt
½ cup freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese
Choose a skillet or saute pan that will contain all the broccoli pieces without crowding them tightly, put in the butter, turn the heat on to medium, and when the butter foam begins to subside, add the cooked, drained broccoli and salt. Turn the broccoli over completely 2 or 3 times, and cook for about 2 minutes, then add the grated Parmesan. Turn the broccoli over again, then transfer the contents of the pan to a warm platter and serve at once.
Fried Broccoli Florets
ONLY THE FLORETS are used here because they lend themselves best to frying. The stalks are too good to throw away, however; after trimming them, use them in a cooked salad, or a vegetable soup, or saute them with garlic and olive oil.
For 6 servings
1 medium bunch fresh broccoli (about 1 pound)
Salt
2 eggs
1 cup fine, dry, unflavored bread crumbs, spread on a plate
Vegetable oil
Note The batter used here consists of eggs and bread crumbs. Another excellent batter for the florets is pastella, flour and water batter, used for fried zucchini.
1. Cut off the florets where their stems meet the stalk. Set the stalk aside, trimming it of its hard outer skin, and use it in another dish as suggested in the introductory remarks above.
2. Wash the florets in 2 or 3 changes of cold water. Bring 2 quarts water to a fast boil, add a large pinch of salt, and as the water resumes its boil, drop in the florets. From time to time, submerge any part of a floret that floats above the water line to keep it from turning yellow. When the water comes to a full boil again, retrieve the florets with a colander spoon and set aside to cool. When they are cold, cut the larger florets lengthwise into pieces about 1 inch thick. Try to have all the pieces more or less equal in size so that you can fry them evenly.
3. Break the eggs into a soup plate, and beat them lightly with a fork.
4. Dip the broccoli, one piece at a time, in the beaten egg, letting excess egg flow back into the plate, then dredge it in the bread crumbs, turning to coat it all over and patting it with your fingertips to cause the breading to adhere securely. Put all the dipped and breaded pieces on a plate until you are ready to fry them.
5. Pour enough oil in a skillet or frying pan to come ½ inch up the sides, and turn on the heat to medium high. When the oil is very hot, slip in as many pieces of broccoli florets as will fit in at one time without crowding the pan. When they have formed a nice golden crust on one side, turn them and do the other side. Transfer them to a cooling rack to drain or to a platter lined with paper towels. Do another batch, and repeat the above procedure, until all the broccoli pieces are done. Sprinkle liberally with salt and serve at once.
Smothered Cabbage, Venetian Style
ANY VARIETY of cabbage—Savoy cabbage, red cabbage, or the common pale-green cabbage—works well in this recipe. It is shredded very fine and cooked very slowly in the vapors from its own escaping moisture combined with olive oil and a small