Spicy Broccoli Pasta (Original post 13/08/11)

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For some reason Monday night becomes pasta night in our house. Monday is when we get our organic veggie mystery box delivered and if it has broccoli in it, I like to use it as soon as possible. There are variations of this classic Italian pasta dish and this is mine.

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_Ingredients
2 large heads of broccoli
4 cloves if garlic
70-80g of black or kalamata olives (pitted)
1 tsp of chilli flakes
1 Tbs tomato paste
salt
olive oil
Penne or spiral pasta 200g dry weight (I use gluten free pasta)
50g Parmesan cheese (optional)
1/2 a small lemon

Requires
Varoma
Wok or large frypan

Step One
Place Parmesan and zest peeled from half a lemon in Thermomix bowl
Chop on speed 9 for 15 seconds and set aside, don't rinse the bowl

Step Two
Chop garlic on speed 7 for 2 secs
Add olives and chop on speed 5 for 2 secs
Set garlic & olive mix aside, don't rinse the bowl

Step Three
Broccoli florets in varoma - still steamy!
Heat 1.5 lites of water in TM bowl to varoma temp on speed 1 (from cold this will take 10-11 mins, quicker of you add water boiled from the kettle)
Chop broccoli into small florets and and finely slice the stem (remove woody end), add to varoma dish

Step Four
Once water is at temperature, add pasta to TM bowl with a heaped tsp of salt, add varoma with broccoli and cook on speed 1 reverse for the 8 mins (or whatever the pasta time says on the packet).
Heat 4 Tbs olive oil in a wok/large fry-pan, add chilli flakes for 1 min, then add garlic/olive mix and tomato paste. Saute on a low heat till pasta and broccoli finished.

Step Five
Reserve 1/2 cup of pasta cooking water before draining the pasta and don't rinse the pasta

Step Six
Gently toss the broccoli in the olive/garlic mix, add salt to taste and a squeeze of lemon juice
Add the drained pasta and the 1/2 cup of pasta water and toss till combined
If the pasta is dry, add olive oil till its well coated

Serve immediately (optionally topped with Parmesan/lemon zest mix)
Serves 2-4 depending on appetite!

Options - if short pasta is used, cook in the thermomix bowl as above. If using noodles like spaghetti I recommend cooking them in a big saucepan on the stove.