Broccoli & Macaroni San Pierota

This is Italian home cooking stripped down to what matters. Ziti tossed in a quick crushed tomato sauce, topped with broccoli that’s been boiled crisp-tender then sauteed in olive oil with plenty of garlic until golden and fragrant.

The garlic gets cooked first in olive oil to flavor the base, then the broccoli goes in to soak up all that garlicky richness. The same pan builds the tomato sauce afterward, so nothing is wasted and the garlic-oil flavor carries through.

Red pepper flakes and a generous shower of grated Parmesan finish it off. Simple, satisfying, and on the table in under 45 minutes.

Pro Tips

• Cook the broccoli until crisp-tender, not soft. It’s going into a hot pan after boiling, so it’ll cook further. Overdone broccoli turns to mush in the saute step.
• Save that broccoli cooking water. It’s starchy and flavorful, and you can use it to cook the pasta or thin the tomato sauce.
• Cook the pasta just to al dente. It finishes absorbing liquid when tossed with the sauce, and overcooked pasta turns gummy.

Variations

• Add Italian sausage browned in the pan before the garlic for a heartier, meatier dish.
• Use broccolini or rapini (broccoli rabe) instead of regular broccoli for a more bitter, peppery green.
• Toss in a handful of oil-cured black olives with the tomato sauce for a Southern Italian twist.