A Spoonful of Sugar » Blog Archive » Orecchiette with broccoli and chilli

Orecchiette alle broccoli e peperoncino

Orecchiette come from Puglia, the heel of the Italian boot. The name means “little ears,” and the pasta is not only a beautiful shape but a very functional one, too. The indentations in the pasta catch the sauce ensuring the most marvellous flavour with every bite.

Traditionally orecchiette are made using a dough of flour, water and olive oil–no eggs here! It’s a very time consuming pasta to make, as each little eat is rolled, cut and shaped by hand. Or by thumb, actually. The final shaping into the characteristic ear shape is done by pressing your thumb into a piece of dough to create the little pocket.

Ideally you would make Orecchiette alle broccoli e peperoncino with broccoli rabe or rapini–sold as tenderstem broccoli in the UK–but regular broccoli is still absolutely delicious.

For such a simple set of ingredients the resulting dish is remarkably complicated in flavour. The bitter and slightly metallic taste of the broccoli melds beautifully with the sweet garlic, salty anchovies and the heat from the chillis.

Orecchiette with broccoli and chilli

Serves 4
Source: Giorgio Locatelli in Delicious Magazine

1 large (500g) head of broccoli, cut into florets
5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
2 medium red chillis, deseeded and thinly sliced (optional)
400g dried orecchiette
4 anchovy fillets in oil
salt and black pepper

Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil, add the orecchiette and cook according to the package directions. While the pasta cooks, set a colander over the pan and steam the broccoli for 4 minutes. Roughly chop the broccoli.

Warm half the olive oil in a large frying pan over low heat and gently fry the garlic and chilli for two minutes until fragrant and slightly softened. Add the broccoli and toss. Add another tablespoon of the olive oil then remove from the heat.

When the pasta is almost al dente, ladle out 100ml of the pasta cooking water into the frying pan with the broccoli mixture and return it to a low heat. Add the anchovies to the pan and let them dissolve, stirring constantly to make a light sauce. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.

Drain the pasta and add to the frying pan. Toss to combine and cook, stirring, for another 2 or 3 minutes to finish cooking the broccoli and so that the sauce clings to the pasta. Serve with the remaining olive oil drizzled over.

This post was written for this week’s Presto Pasta Night! as created by Ruth at Once Upon A Feast. This week’s edition is hosted by Abby of Eat The Right Stuff.

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15 Comments so far

I cannot get orecchiette anywhere near me - I do live in the deepest depths of Cornwall though!. This looks great though. Will have to order some on the internet

Actually, you make the shape by cutting off a small piece of dough and dragging the side of a small paring knife or offset spatula across it. We spent umpteen hours making them at school.

Just like this…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qk34jkzVZYs

Do you want me to post you a box, Beth? It’s pretty easy to get hold of in our Sainsburys.

Thanks for the video, Jo! Clearly I’ve only seen the lazy person’s method before. It’s pretty hypnotic watching her cutting and shaping the orecchiette–I wonder how long it takes you to become so fluid and natural at it?

How funny - just tonight I made this for dinner, minus the anchovies. It was in this months’ issue of “Everyday Food”. Very simple, very delicious.

Love your blog. Even though I am stuffed full of pasta & broccoli, I am suddenly hungry again, looking at your lovely recipes!

I love this dish almost as much as my 19 month old grandson. Thanks for sharing with Presto Pasta Nights.

this is very similar to my ppn dish this week - great minds are obviously thinking alike, eh angela!

thanks for sharing with ppn.

I’m a new convert to orrechiette - my fav so far is with broccoli and spicy italian sausage - yum.

Lovely blog - I found you via Helen’s!

This looks lovely! I have a bag of these little ears that I lugged back from Italy earlier this year and they are so delicious

Hi Julie! It’s such a delicious dish, isn’t it? And thank-you for your lovely comment about my blog. I hope you’ll come back to visit again!

Hi Ruth! Wow! That’s a whole lotta love!

Hi Abby! Great minds are definitely at work
Hi Kittie! That sounds so good! I wish I could find the right sort of Italian sausage. I always seem to end up buying the dried ones rather than fresh. Still tasty, though.

And thank-you, too, for your compliment!

Jeanne! Hello!! I’ve just realised that you’ve disappeared from my google reader! I thought you’d been a bit quiet. I wonder if it’s due to the lack of eggs, but the orecchiette seem to soak up so much more flavour than egg pasta.

Great pasta dish and addition to presto pasta nights! I once tried to make orrechiette from scratch…didn’t work out so well

Hi Hillary! I thought your orrechiette looked great and I love the step-by-step photos too.

I like this… I’m looking to expand my use of anchovies… such cute, briny little fishes! And so many of the bigger fishes are no longer healthy!

Hi katie! I resisted anchovies for years for absolutely no reason. I think I’d heard so many people saying that they were horrid that I just decided I didn’t like them. However, after tasting some great ones this year, I love ‘em!

Pissaladiere would be a great way of using up some anchovies.

So very true about the shape or Orecchiette being good to catch sauce. Looks like a great recipe as always Angela!

Hi Lorraine! Thanks! It’s now one of our regular favourites, and so quick to make, too!

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