This week’s Friday night dinner has all the ingredients of a classic broccoli sausage pasta, where the broccoli cooks down to a mush (counterintuitive for those of us who were traumatised by mushy school dinner broc – trust me when I say it is a good thing here).
Timings
Prep time:10 minutes
Cook time: 40 minutes
Serves
4
Ingredients
- Olive oil, for frying (plus a drizzle of good oil for serving)
- An onion, sliced into thin wedges
- 3 garlic cloves, finely sliced
- 1 tsp fennel seeds
- ½ tsp chilli flakes
- 2x660g jars cannellini beans (or about 3 tins)
- 400ml water
- A Parmesan rind and a handful of grated cheese (plus extra for serving)
- A large head of broccoli (or two smaller ones), cut into florets
- 6 sausages
- 2 lemons, juiced
- 1 tbsp white wine vinegar
Method
- Start by making the base for the beans. Set a large casserole pan with a lid over a low-medium heat with plenty of olive oil. When hot, add the onion with a good pinch of salt. Put the lid on and sweat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Then add the garlic and cook for a further two minutes. Add the fennel seeds and chilli flakes and cook for another minute, stirring.
- Add the jars of beans and their liquor to the pan along with the extra water, the Parmesan rind and another pinch of salt. Stir, cover and bring to a simmer. Cook for 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile, bring a pan of salted water to boil and get a bowl of iced water ready. Cook the broccoli for six minutes. Then remove straight from the pan with a slotted spoon and transfer to the bowl to stop the broccoli cooking.
- Now fry the sausage. Set a frying pan over a medium heat with a splash of oil. Pinch the sausages into the pan so you get lots of little nuggets. Fry until golden brown.
- Chop the broccoli stalks, then add all the broccoli to the pan of beans, along with the lemon juice and white wine vinegar. Cook for another six minutes, stirring occasionally and breaking the broccoli heads with the back of your wooden spoon as you go. You want it to break down a fair bit.
- Turn the heat off, add the grated Parmesan, stir and leave with the lid on for a minute.
- Ladle the beans into warm bowls, top with crispy sausage, extra Parmesan and a drizzle of good olive oil.