Meatless Monday: Broccoli Cavatelli

Broccoli cavatelli (or with any other pasta shapes) is a favorite staple in our house.  We love how it tastes and with some sprinkle of pecorino Romano or parmigiano-reggiano, this simple dish becomes positively divine.

Before I get into the very simple recipe, I want to talk about the type of pasta I use.

I used to make this dish with regular dried pasta, usually farfalle (bow-ties) campanelle (little bells), or cavatappi/cellentani (corkscrews) because I could never find cavatelli pasta in the supermarket.  Shame on me, I only discovered about 3 years ago that cavatelli is sold either fresh at a local Italian deli or frozen in a regular supermarket.  I think there are dry versions, but I have yet to find any.

Either way, while pasta of any shape with broccoli sautéed with garlic is delicious, there is something about cavatelli that turns the dish into a succulent and more a “meaty” dish.  I don’t know if it’s the shape or fresh/frozen factor.  Which is why, I tend to use cavatelli when I’m going meatless.

This dish can’t get any more simple and easy, using just 4 essential ingredients. Broccoli, garlic, pasta and extra virgin olive oil. Oh, and some salt and pepper.Unlike some other broccoli cavatelli recipes, I skip the crushed red peppers because of the kids. I replace the chicken broth with reserved pasta water. I use a lot of broccoli, 3 large bunches of broccoli, including the stems and I chopped them up a little smaller.

I use a lot of garlic. Some recipes calls for 3 or 4 heads. I take 6 to 8 cloves of crushed and minced garlic.

I saute the garlic in olive oil until fragrant and just slightly golden. A hint to make clean up easier, I boil the broccoli first, pasta next and then use the same pot to saute the garlic before throwing everything back together. That’s why you see a little bit of broccoli with the garlic in the photo below.

The final product with some yummy cheese on top.

This one is from last year, the first time I tried to write up the recipe and just plain forgot to do it.  As you can see from the two photos, because I give my  broccoli a few chops before adding them to the garlic, there is a more blended effect.  There’s broccoli bits coating the pasta and that’s what my family loves.

Broccoli Cavatelli

Prep time: 10 minutes Cook time: 30 minutes
Serves: 4

Ingredients

3 large bunch of broccoli, head cut to smaller florets, stem peeled and cut into smaller pieces
1 pound fresh or frozen cavatelli
6 to 8 cloves of garlic, crushed and minced
extra virgin olive oil
1 – 2 cups reserved pasta water
salt and pepper
grated pecorino romano or parmigiano-reggiano cheese, optional
fresh chopped parsley, optional garnish

Directions

In a large pot, bring lightly salted water to boil. Boil broccoli until just past al dente but still firm, remove from the pot, drain and set a side. In the same water, cook pasta until al dente. Reserve 2 cups of pasta water before draining the pasta.

Dry the pot before adding 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil and heat on medium heat. Add garlic and saute until fragrant and it starts turning lightly golden. Add broccoli and saute until thoroughly mixed. Salt and pepper to taste. Add the pasta and 1 cup of reserved pasta water and cook until the water is absorbed. Add another 1/2 cup to 1 cup if more liquid is needed and cook until the pasta and broccoli is tender.

If using cheese, add cheese to taste and mix before serving. Sprinkle a little more for garnish. If not using cheese, just serve immediately with or without fresh chopped parsley.

 

Easy Eggplant Parmigiana

Zizi Angie, D’s aunt makes one of the best eggplant parmigiana I’ve ever tasted. When I asked for her recipe, I was stunned to find out that instead of frying, she baked instead of the breaded eggplant.   It’s tasty and healthier? It’s a no-brainer that I had to try the recipe for myself.

Of course, like a lot of family recipes in families all over the world, this one was only in her head.

“Take an eggplant, slice it, salt it to drain out some water, throw some flour, egg, bread crumbs, bake on each side until golden, layer with sauce and cheese.”

Um, okay. So, I Googled eggplant parmigiana recipe, looked at the simplest ones, mashed them together with Zizi’s verbal directions and here is the result.

Two thumbs up from Soso, very good from D, and Punk gobbled some up without any complaint. As for my opinion? Not as good as Zizi’s, but I would like to attribute that to the fact that she’s been making this dish for decades whereas this is only my second attempt.  This is a very workable recipe and adaptable to taste and availability of ingredients.  You can use less or more sauce and cheese.  You can skip the fresh basil or the Parmigiana or both.  You can leave the peel on.  Use jarred or homemade sauce.  Whatever works for you!

Here are the baked eggplant pieces. I like to cut mine length wise because frankly, there are less pieces to bread than if I cut them round.

I layered with sauce, eggplant, fresh mozz, fresh basil, grated parmigiano and repeat until all the eggplant slices are used.

Right as it was going in the oven, which explains the dark half of the photo.

Ta-da! Easy yummy eggplant parmigiana enough for two dinners. I served it with some penne with the left-over marinara sauce.

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Easy Eggplant Parmigiana

Prep time: upto 1 hour Cook time: 45 mins

Serves: 8

Ingredients

2 Italian eggplants, peeled and cut lengthwise 1/4 inch slices
Kosher salt
olive oil
4 eggs
1/8 cup water
1 – 1 ½ cups flour
1 – 1 ½ cups seasoned breadcrumbs
2 ½ - 3 cups favorite marinara sauce
1 pound fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced 1/4 inch rounds
1 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
1 cup fresh basil leaves

Directions

Place eggplant slices in a large colander in a single layer and sprinkle lightly with salt. Repeat until all eggplant slices are in the colander. Place a few plates on top to weigh down the eggplant. Place a large or shallow bowl under the colander. Let the eggplant drain of excess water for up to an hour. When ready, rinse the eggplant with water, pat dry an set aside for breading.

While the eggplant is draining, place in 3 separate wide and shallow dishes the egg and water (beaten lightly), the breadcrumbs and the flour. Line 2 cookie sheets with aluminum and drizzle lightly with oil in a zig-zag pattern. In a large working surface, place the bowls in the following order: flour, egg wash, breadcrumbs, cookie sheet.  Pre-heat the oven to 400° F.

Working with one slice at a time, dredge eggplant in flour, shake off excess, dip in egg wash, then breadcrumbs, shake off any excess and place on the prepared cookie sheet.  Repeat until the sheet is filled.  Drizzle eggplant slices lightly with oil.  Place the filled cookie sheet in one of the middle racks.  Bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown, flip and bake the other side.  Remove from the oven and set aside.  Repeat the steps until all the eggplant slices have been baked.

In  the bottom of a 13 x 9 baking dish, spread 1/3 of the marinara sauce.  Make a single layer of eggplant slices.  Top with 1/3 of mozzarella.  Top with 1/3 of basil leaves.  Sprinkle 1/3 of grated Parmigiano-Reggiano.  For the second and third layer, start with eggplant, sauce, mozzarella, basil and top with Parmigiano-Reggiano.  Bake in 350° F for 30 minutes or until the cheese is melted and slightly bubbly.

Sesame Shrimp

I made this Sesame Shrimp dish in April, but I never got the chance to post the recipe.  The recipe is modified from dashrecipe.com and is very easy to pull together for an quick dinner option.

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Sesame Shrimp

Prep time: 15 mins  Cook time: 15 mins

Serves: 4

Ingredients

1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon seasoned rice vinegar
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon cooking oil (canola or vegetable)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 package mushroom, sliced (6 – 8 ounces or any variety)
2 small zucchini, sliced 1/4 inch thick
1 carrot, sliced diagonally 1/4 inch thick
1 1/2 lbs shelled and deveined shrimp
2 scallion, chopped
1 tablespoon crushed sesame seeds

Directions

In a small bowl, whisk soy sauce, vinegar and sesame oil

In a large wok, place 1 tablespoon cooking oil and garlic. Turn heat on high and quickly stir-fry the carrots, zucchini and mushrooms until they start becoming tender. Add the shrimp stir-fry until the shrimp are cooked. Add the scallions and soy sauce mixture and toss until throughly mixed. Sprinkle sesame seed for garnish. Serve with steamed rice.