Conchiglie con Broccoli

Have you ever watched Inspector Montalbano on BBC 4? He is an Italian Police Inspector solving crimes on the island of Sicily and after a shaky first episode we have become more ardent fans. In addition to quirky story-lines Montalbano is a great foodie with delicious fresh Sicilian food being eaten in great quantities during every episode.

One dish that comes up time and time again is Pasta with Broccoli. As you know Mike is not a great vegetarian but I was intrigued and managed to convince him to let me give it a go. "What gives it it's taste? It sounds bland." "Well Montalbano loves it so why don't I look for a recipe and give it a go?" So that's what I did, finding this recipe in the River Island Cook Book by Ruth Grey and Rose Rogers. Their secret ingredient is salted anchovies where the fish are salted in large barrels or tins and those preserved in olive oil are no substitute. I managed to get a small jar of these little beauties in the supermarket and without any further ado I started preparing the purple sprouting broccoli, garlic and sauce ingredients. 

The hardest thing was carefully slicing the broccoli horizontally ensuring  there there was a bit of leaf, stem and head on each portion, the rest of it was a breeze.

Whilst busy cooking away Andrew arrived in the kitchen "What's for dinner, mum?" he asked when I told him his face screwed up "That sounds absolutely vile, do I have to eat it?" "What's wrong with it?" "Everything!" "Don't be a baby, give it a try and if you don't like it you can have a pot noodle or something" "Can't I have a take-away?" "No ... go away"

I served dinner up with rigatoni as opposed to Conchiglie which are large pasta shells as Mike is not fond of big pasta shapes. The sauce was thick, as you pureed half of the broccoli mixture, and a lovely light green. The taste was delicious and Mike loved it. "More anchovies next time," he suggested  "and I would definitely have this again. I know why Montalbano likes it so much" "What about you Andrew?" I asked. He looked nearly as green as the pasta sauce "It's OK ... just .... don't make me eat it again!" So a mixed review this time. In my opinion it was flavoursome and light and I will definitely give it another go, especially with Mike being so enthusiastic about it ... but I will wait until Andrew has returned to University before I do ... poor soul!