Sprouting broccoli with mushrooms and stilton – serves 6
500g purple sprouting broccoli or other long-stemmed broccoli
1 tbsp olive oil
a knob of butter
500g chestnut mushrooms, halved or quartered
50g creamy stilton, crumbled
a drizzle of best olvie oil
Boil the broccoli in lots of very salt water for about 3 minutes, or until bright green and not quite tender, then drain and rinse under cold water to stop it cooking further. Drain well and set aside (you can do this in advance if you like).
Heat the oil and butter in a large frying pan over a high heat. When the butter is sizzling, add the mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes, until golden.
Add the broccoli and toss with the mushrooms. Cover the pan and cook for about 3 minutes, shaking the pan occasionally, until the broccoli is heated through and the mushrooms have softened.
Season well, then tip into a serving bowl, scatter over the cheese and drizzle over some of your best olive oil.
Who says you can’t have broccoli for breakfast? It’s purple sprouting broccoli season and we can’t resist buying when we see it. Also good on a slice of toasted sourdough.
Crispy PSB with poached eggs – serves 2
300g purple sprouting broccoli
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp honey
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp sesame seeds
poached eggs, to serve
Heat the grill to high.
Meanwhile, steam the broccoli until tender, about 5 minutes, then dry well with kitchen paper.
Put the soy sauce, honey and vegetable oil in a bowl and whisk to combine.
Put the broccoli into a roasting tin, pour over the marinade and toss gently, then sprinkle over the sesame seeds. Put the tin under the grill for 5-8 minutes or until the broccoli is crispy.
Divide the broccoli between warm plates and top with a poached egg. Serve with some toast if you like.
(Original recipe by Rosie Birkett in BBC Good Food Magazine, April 2019.)
Sometimes all you want is a plate of greens. Here they are with a Japanese-style sauce and some sticky rice and sesame seeds.
Wine Suggestion: We find this combination of flavours in the sauce work well with Riesling, especially if it’s the lighter styles with a touch of fruit. This could be a German Kabinett with lower alcohol, residual sugar and refreshing acidity, or one of the dry Clare Valley cuvées that leave a hint of sugar in making them very approachable in youth like Pike’s Hills & Valleys.
Greens with Sticky Sesame Rice – serves 2
1 tbsp caster sugar
140g sushi rice
1 tbsp sesame seeds, toasted
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tbsp sunflower oil
350g purple sprouting broccoli or other long-stemmed broccoli
6 scallions, halved lengthways
FOR THE SAUCE:
2 tbsp brown miso paste
1 tbsp mirin
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1 tbsp soft brown sugar
2 tsp finely grated ginger
1 red chilli, deseeded and diced
Stir the sauce ingredients together with 1 tbsp water, then set aside.
Bring a large pan of water to the boil with the caster sugar and ½ tsp salt. Add the rice and boil for about 15 minutes (or whatever time it suggests on the pack) until just cooked. Drain well, return to the pan and sprinkle over the toasted sesame seeds and sesame oil. Cover and keep warm.
Heat the sunflower oil in a wok until smoking hot. Add the broccoli and stir-fry for a few minutes until almost tender, add a splash of water now and then to create a bit of steam. Add the scallions and stir-fry for 30 seconds, then stir in the sauce and cook for another minute or two, stirring constantly.
Divide the rice between 2 plates and top with the stir-fry.
PSB is our veg saviour early in the year when winter is lingering and spring still seems too far away. We loved this roasted version with a tangy lemon dressing.
Roasted PSB with feta & preserved lemons – serves 4 to 6 as a side
500g purple sprouting broccoli
2 tbsp olive oil
1 red chilli, chopped
1 preserved lemon, flesh and rind chopped, plus 1 tbsp juice from the jar
80g yoghurt
1 garlic cloves, grated
30g feta
Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6.
Put the PSB into large roasting tin, add the olive oil and red chilli, season with salt and pepper, then toss with your hands.
Roast for 15 minutes, turning halfway, until tender and starting to char.
Meanwhile stir the preserved lemon, juice and garlic into the yoghurt.
Crumble the feta over the roasted broccoli and drizzle with yoghurt dressing and your best olive oil.
A recipe from Southern Italian Cooking by Valentina Harris. There is no better vehicle to showcase purple sprouting broccoli, which is in season right now. You need top quality ingredients as they will shine in this simple dish. The sausages were Italian with fennel and the PSB our friends at McNally Family Farm.
Wine Suggestion: There’s a certain honest rusticity to this dish which we think suits Nebbiolo or similar, but not the heady heights of Barolo, look for a lesser known area. We went for the lesser known Freisa grape, also from Piedmont. A bottle of the Olim Bauda Freisa and it tasted of roses and raspberry’s with a decent whack of smooth, honest tannins; satisfying and generous alongside the food.
Salsicce con Broccoletti – serves 4
1 tbsp lard (we used a mix of olive oil and butter)
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 dried red chilli pepper
500g Italian sausages (you need top quality Italian sausages which have a much coarser texture than regular butchers sausages)
750g purple sprouting broccoli, rinsed and trimmed
A large shallow casserole dish works well for this. Melt the lard and fry the garlic and chilli pepper over a gentle heat for 5 minutes. Add the sausages and brown all over (you might want to do this in a frying pan so you don’t burn the garlic, if you do, make sure that the tip all the oil that comes out of the sausages back into the pan).
Once browned all over, turn the heat down and cook the sausages gently for 5 minutes. Add the broccoli and season with a little salt. Stir everything to coat in the fat.
Cover the pan and simmer for 20 minutes, a splash of water will help steam the broccoli and stop the dish drying out.
(Original recipe from Southern Italian Cooking by Valentina Harris, Pavilion Books Limited, 1993.)
It’s about this time of year when purple sprouting broccoli arrives and saves us from the monotony of root veg. We’ve yet to be rescued and therefore had to use some imported tenderstem instead, which was fine, but definitely inferior to the local purple variety.
Wine Suggestion: We think this goes really well with Viognier. A richer, more aromatic white with a bit of phenolic grip as opposed to acidity and compliments the richness and body of the food. This wouldn’t work if the acidity was too high. A good, well-priced suggestion is the Cline Cellars North Coast Viognier, from a selection of well sited organic vineyards on the Sonoma coast in California. Well judged and avoids some of the OTT characters other Californian wines can exhibit.
Peanut Butter and Broccoli Pad Thai – serves 4
FOR THE SAUCE:
6 tbsp crunchy peanut butter
2 tbsp tamarind paste
3 tbsp runny honey
4 tbsp soy sauce
3 tbsp fresh lime juice
FOR THE TOFU & BROCCOLI:
450g purple sprouting broccoli or other long-stemmed broccoli, put the florets to one side and cut the stalks into 1cm pieces
3 cloves of garlic, crushed
1.5cm ginger, peeled and grated
2 bird’s eye chillies, finely chopped
225g firm tofu, drained and cubed
250g flat folded rice noodles
rapeseed oil
6 scallions, finely chopped
a handful of sesame seeds
a handful of Thai basil leaves, shredded (use regular basil if you have to)
a handful of fresh mint leaves, shredded
1 lime, cut into 4 wedges
Make the sauce by mixing the peanut butter, tamarind paste and honey in a bowl, then slowly mix in the soy sauce, lime juice and 4 tbsp of water.
Cook the noodles according the instructions on the pack, then rinse under cold water, drain, and drizzle with a tbsp of rapeseed oil. Toss gently with your hands.
Heat 2tbsp of rapeseed oil, over a medium-high heat, in a large non-stick pan or wok with a lid. Fry the tofu for 5 minutes, turning every minute, until pale golden. Add the ginger, garlic and chilli and cook for 2 minutes, then add the broccoli stalks and 4 tbsp of water. Cover the pan and steam for 2 minutes or until the stalks are tender. Add the broccoli florets, the sauce and scallions (reserving a few to garnish), stir to combine, then cover again and leave for 2 minutes.
Turn the heat down to the lowest setting, then add the noodles a handful at a time, mixing them in gently to coat with the sauce, then turn off the heat.
Divide the noodles between 4 bowls, sprinkle with sesame seeds and scallions, then drizzle over some sesame oil and scatter over the herbs. Add a generous squeeze of lime and serve.
(Original recipe from East by Meera Sodha, Fig Tree: Penguin Books, 2019.)
We’ve been cooking pretty much as usual since Covid-19 struck and we’ve all had to stay home. We are trying even harder than usual though to use what we already have. The only fresh ingredient you need here is broccoli, we used purple sprouting as it’s in season but any broccoli will do. Hopefully you have everything else in your cupboard or fridge already, if not the corner shop should have it.
Wine Suggestion: a simple white wine with a bit of freshness and texture is all that is needed here. Our selection is the Macchialupa Falanghina from Benevento in Campania, Italy, which over delivers but is joyfully fresh and vibrant.
PSB and Pasta Bake – serves 4
250-300g broccoli, cut into florets (we use stalks and all)
250-300g penne pasta (or whatever short pasta you have)
25g butter
25g plain flour
300ml milk
2 large handfuls of grated Cheddar cheese (or any leftover cheese)
1 tbsp grainy mustard (or any mustard)
Cook the pasta in loads of salty boiling water and add the broccoli for the last 4 minutes. Drain and leave to steam dry in the pot.
Make a cheese sauce by melting the butter in a saucepan, then stir in the flour. Keep stirring for a minute, then gradually add the milk, a little at a time, stirring all the time. Keep stirring now until the mixture bubbles, then leave to simmer for a couple of minutes. Stir in the mustard, one large handful of cheese and plenty of seasoning.
Tip the cooked pasta and broccoli into the sauce and stir gently. Tip into an ovenproof dish and put under a hot grill for a few minutes until browned and bubbling.
We’re trying to make more of an effort at breakfast time. This dish by Gill Meller of River Cottage is more suited to a weekend when you have a bit more time but it’s worth it as the flavours are great. The vegetable shop can get a bit boring at this time of year but then arrives Purple Sprouting Broccoli to keep us in good spirits.
Serve this with some toasted brown bread for mopping up the hot, smoky butter.
Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and simmer the purple sprouting broccoli for a few minutes until tender. Drain and allow to steam dry.
Meanwhile, melt the butter in a small pan until sizzling then add the garlic, rosemary and smoked paprika. Cook for about a minute or until the garlic is softened but not browned, then remove from the heat.
Divide the yoghurt between two warmed bowls. Lay the broccoli in the bowls with the poached eggs. Season everything with salt and pepper and spoon over the smoky butter. Serve immediately with plenty of toast.
(Original recipe from Time by Gill Meller, Quadrille, 2018.)
This is particularly good with purple sprouting broccoli when it’s around. Don’t be tempted to strip off the leaves they’re just as good to eat as the florets. Hardly a recipe at all but very satisfying.
Wine Suggestion: try an Italian white from the Marches or Abruzzo. Our choice this evening was the La Piuma (feather) Pecorino Terre di Chieti; charming fruit and with little twists of nuts, herbs and citrus that played with the food in a great way.
Cheese & broccoli pasta – serves 2
200g pasta (use whatever you have)
a bunch of purple sprouting broccoli – about 6 to 8 stems (or a head of ordinary broccoli)
about 250g of ripe Gorgonzola
Cook the pasta in a generous amount of boiling salty water.
Cut the broccoli into small florets and thin pieces of stalk (discard any thick woody stems).
Lightly salt another pan of boiling water and cook the broccoli for a few minutes or until tender.
Put the cheese into a large warm bowl, then add the hot drained broccoli followed by the lightly drained pasta (a bit of water will help make a sauce). Stir until melting and serve.
(Original recipe from Appetite by Nigel Slater, Fourth Estate, 2001)
Jono & Jules do food & wine 