Authentic Sicilian Pasta With Broccoli

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In 'Il ladro di merendine', a popular Sicilian novel, police captain Montalbano receives a phone call at home in the evening and answers 'Montalbano speaking. I am eating broccoli pasta, who the hell is disturbing me!'. There are many ways of eating pasta with broccoli, but few can elicit such intense reactions as this one. like for Arancini, Sicilian gastronomy plays a central role in this book by Italy's most popular living author Andrea Camilleri.

Pasta with broccoli
A traditional Palermo recipe
500 gr italian maccheroni
1000 gr broccoli
40 gr raisins
40 gr pine nuts
2 anchovy fillets preserved in salted oil
1 pinch of saffron
1 large onion
1 tablespoon tomato concentrate
oil, salt and pepper

I make my maccheroni from scratch - it only takes about 20 minutes - but you can use any bronze-extruded semolina maccheroni to good effect.

Start by cutting the broccoli into apricot-sized florets. Fill the largest saucepan you have with water, salt profusely and bring to a boil. Immerse the broccoli and remove them with a sieve when they are cooked but still crunchy - about 8 minutes. Put them in a covered bowl. Do not discard the water.

In a large saucepan, fry the finely chopped onion in a little olive oil over medium-high heat. When the onions are pale brown, add the chopped anchovies and cook for another minute or so.

Add the tomato concentrate and a glass of the broccoli's cooking water. Mix well and bring to a boil.

Add the raisins and pine nuts and boil for a few more minutes. Add the saffron but not too soon as the heat would vaporize some of its delicate fragrance.

Cook the pasta in the same water as the broccoli. I make my own macaroni but you can use any quality semolina flour, bronze extruded tubular pasta. Undercook by at least 2 minutes - crunchier than al dente. This is needed as the pasta will later be left to infuse in the sauce and will thus continue to cook.

Mix the broccoli in the sauce ...

... then add the cooked pasta and leave covered for 10 minutes or as long as you can wait.

Serve with the softest pecorino coarsely grated or no cheese at all.

This is a most memorable dish with a very classy and delicate saffron taste that combines perfectly with the raisins and pine nuts. A beautiful illustration of the Sicilian genius for marrying North African influences to a shared Italian heritage.

The original recipe is called 'pasta chi vruoccoli 'rriminati' and comes from Anna Pomar's La cucina tradizionale siciliana.