ORRECHIETTE WITH BACON AND BROCCOLI

This is one of those dishes that are so simple as long as if you do not have to make your own pasta.  The dough contains no egg with only flour, semolina and water and originates from Puglia. It is tricky process where a quick hand is required. Dough is rolled into a long cylinder then sliced with a sharp knife and at the same time ‘little ears’ are formed with the same knife being pulled across the pieces of dough to form little dome shaped pasta. Note that not all of them will look the same, the centre is softer than the thicker edges. If all this seems like too much work, dried, store-bought orrechiette will do just fine. This combination is always going to work, pasta, broccoli, bacon and Parmesan. Some recipes use peas, sausage in its origins rapini was used which is a lot more bitter.

Serves: 4-6

Difficulty: moderate
Preparation time: 10-15 minutes
Cooking time: 5 minutes

INGREDIENTS
150 g bacon, diced
1 small chilli, deseeded and chopped
1 – 2 cloves garlic, crushed
200 g broccoli florets, blanched
¼ C (60 ml) white wine
¼ tsp (1.25 ml) lemon zest (optional)
3 Tbsp (45 ml) chopped parsley
1 tsp (5 ml) black pepper
salt
400 g orrechiette, cooked
approximately 100 ml reserved liquid from cooking the pasta
finely grated Parmesan cheese, for serving

METHOD

Sauté the bacon in a sauté pan until cooked and slightly browned. Add the chilli and garlic.
Add the broccoli florets and deglaze with white wine (it’s OK if the broccoli is slightly overcooked, as this will result in small pieces breaking off and sticking to the pasta). Add the lemon zest (if using).
As soon as the orrechiette is cooked, strain (retain the cooking liquid and set aside) and add to the bacon and broccoli mix.

Move the ingredients continuously in the pan, making sure that the mixture does not stick to the pan. Add some of the reserved pasta cooking liquid to loosen. Add the parsley and the crushed black pepper.

Adjust the seasoning and finish with parmesan before serving.