MEMBER RECIPE
Zesty Romanesco Broccoli with Artichoke Recipe
By d_w
Romanesco broccoli is a unique vegitable with a great texture, taste, and presentation. You’ll enjoy this simplicity of this preparation for a great side dish. If you’re not familiar with romanesco, its unique shape has spiral cones on top of spiral cones and happens to be a good example of fractal geometry. It’s taste is lighter and sweeter than basic broccoli. This recipe was inspired by a discussion on Chow, and its simple enough that you can try your own variations.
This recipe was originally inspired by Deborah Madison’s Farmer’s Market book, with contributions from Chow users Aaron and MariaJ. Here’s the original discussion:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/283129
INGREDIENTS
- 2 garlic cloves
- 4 tbsp butter
- 2 tbsp olive oil (or replace the butter with more olive oil)
- 2 tsp dijon mustard
- Zest of one lemon
- 3 tbsp dried oregano
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3 heads of large romanesco broccoli (or 4 small heads)
- 1/3 cup drained artichoke hearts
- 1 green onion
- 1/4 cup romano cheese
- Optional: substitute basic broccoli for one or two of the heads to mix it up
- Optional: add drained capers or substitute them for artichoke hearts
INSTRUCTIONS
- Pound 2 garlic cloves with 1/4 tsp salt in a mortar and pestle until smooth.
- Melt butter and combine first 6 ingredients in small gravy or sauce dish to prepare the mustard garlic butter.
- Cut the romanesco and artichoke hearts into bite sized pieces. Set artichoke hearts in strainer, in preparation for step 6. Presentation suggestion: Leave a tip of the romanesco in tact as a centerpiece for the dish (as shown).
- Using a medium pot with a lid, boil the romanesco in salted water (remaining 1/4 tsp) for 5 minutes or until tender.
- Grate the romano cheese and dice the green onion while water is boiling. Keep cheese and green onions separate.
- Strain the romanesco, allowing hot water to warm up the artichoke hearts. Place romanesco and artichoke hearts back into pot. Add in the diced green onions.
- Toss the vegetables with the mustard garlic butter. Presentation suggestion: Pull out the romanesco tip and set aside. As a final step, add the romanesco tip to the center of the dish.
- Poor mixture into serving bowl and top with the grated romano cheese. Serve and enjoy!
Member recipes are not tested by the CHOW food team.
