Orecchiette with Broccoli, Garlic, Lemon, & Pecorino

Plus: Dinner at Blair's, Weekday Salads, and Bill Addison on The Best Restaurants in L.A.

Hey Thursday friends,

I’m trying an experiment this week: I’m making my Thursday newsletter more like my Monday newsletter. That way, if you become a paid subscriber, you know exactly what you’re getting: more recipes, more restaurant write-ups, more links. How could you say no to that?

So, last night I invited my friend Jim Cantiello over for dinner. A successful TV producer, I wanted to pick his brain about developing a cooking show for YouTube. Turns out that’s hard work! So after talking nuts and bolts, I boiled some orecchiette for dinner (which he brought because I forgot to buy a box… d’oh) along with broccoli, garlic, red chili flakes, lemon, and Pecorino and, man oh man, was it good. Let me tell you how I made it.

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The Recipe: Orecchiette with Broccoli, Garlic, and Pecorino

This is such a great weeknight recipe because it seems kind of fancy, but it’s really easy to do. Plus: I don’t have kids, but if I did have kids, this might be a nice way to get them to eat broccoli. (Do I sound like Jessica Seinfeld?) Everything gets coated in the garlic-and-chili infused oil, and then the Pecorino and lemon zest take everything over-the-top.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• Kosher salt

• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling

• 6 to 8 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced

• 2 to 3 anchovies (optional; I left them out because Jim doesn’t like fish, but they add some more umami)

• A big pinch of red chili flakes (more if you like it spicy), plus more for sprinkling

• 3 heads of broccoli, stems discarded* (save them for soup!), florets cut into small pieces about the same size as an orecchiette); you should wind up with about 3 to 4 cups of florets [* note: you can thinly slice the stems and use them here too, I just don’t think it looks as pretty]

• 16-ounce box of orecchiette (I like De Cecco)

• Zest and juice of one lemon (Meyer lemon, if you can find it)

• 1/2 cup grated Pecorino, plus more for serving (Parmesan works here too)