I sat down this morning with a stack of cookbooks, determined to do some menu planning for the week. I know some people do this easily, but I find myself preparing old standbys instead of the chosen recipes when the going gets tough (i.e., Tuesday. No, make that Monday.)
I think the most challenging part of menu planning is having all the ingredients on hand. We live 4 blocks from a grocery store, for goodness' sake, so I don't have any excuses.
But I almost always have the ingredients for my standbys, which is why I go back to them so quickly, I guess! One of our favorites is a very basic recipe introduced to me by a friend about 15 years ago. My friend's mother is Italian, and she taught him how to make an easy broccoli pasta recipe that he'd cook up for his girlfriend (and me, if I happened to be around). He called it the "pasta of love." I guess we can still call it that.
The name comes from my friend's having prepared this meal, years before, for a different girl, who raved about it. So, we used to say, this is a great meal to make for a date. My friend did marry my housemate, and they have 3 beautiful children, so maybe there's something to it.
My friend is super picky about the quality and type of ingredients, so he would have my head for the changes I've made to his mother's recipe. My two big additions--bacon or pieces of cooked chicken breast, are easily omitted (which conveniently makes the dish vegetarian) and then, if you go super easy on the pepper, you will have the purist's version of this broccoli pasta dish.
Broccoli Pasta, the Pasta of Love
Serves 4
Ingredients:
Cooked penne pasta (I use whole wheat, my friend uses Barilla), enough to serve 3
2 cups steamed (or otherwise cooked) broccoli
Fresh garlic (I use several cloves, sliced thin)
2 or 3 T of olive oil
1/2 T of butter
1 cup shredded parmigiano reggiano (parmesan) cheese
salt & pepper to taste
Optional: Cooked bacon (about 5 pieces) or 6 oz. cooked chicken breast, cut into chunks
To prepare:
Prior to assembling the ingredients, you'll obviously need to have cooked the pasta, steamed the broccoli, prepared the bacon or chicken breast, and shredded the parmesan cheese.
Once you've done that, heat the olive oil in a large skillet, then add the butter so it melts.
Next, saute the garlic until just browned. Remove.
Then, after making sure the pasta and broccoli are well-drained, pour both of these into the pan.
Toss the broccoli and pasta until well coated, making sure to heat it through. Next, add the parmesan cheese and salt to taste. At this point, your meal is complete, is far as my friend is concerned; serve it up and enjoy it.
If you want my bastardized version, add in your bacon or chicken, plus a generous amount (if you're so inclined) of fresh ground pepper. Serve.
Here is the trick with the parmesan cheese: sprinkle it over the top of the pasta and broccoli in the pan and let it sit for a few minutes before gradually stirring it in. If you stir it in immediately, it melts into a glob at the bottom of the pan and doesn't get spread evenly throughout the dish.
So much for my menu planning...
