Tagliatelle con Broccolo Romano, Salsiccia, Ricotta e Zafferano

A few weeks ago I bought a beautiful Romanesco broccoli at the market. While many people think it is a modern hybrid of broccoli and cauliflower, romanesco broccoli has been dated back to 16th-century Italy. Romanesco broccoli has a much milder, sweeter flavor than either broccoli or cauliflower. Its florets are dense, like cauliflower, and cook up wonderfully tender while also holding their shape.While I have seen them many times in Italy it was rare to see it in Canada so I scooped it up!

I didn't want to waste this beauty on just any recipe so I searched online for something that would do it justice. I found one but it was all in Italian - I turned to my friend in such cases - google translator - and this was what I ended up with . . .

Tagliatelle con Broccolo Romano, Salsiccia, Ricotta e Zafferano

4 nests of dried noodles
70 g of sausage (this time I put the sausage
1 Roman broccoli (I will use some florets),
150 g of ricotta cheese,
A packet of saffron,
Very little still white wine,
Parmesan cheese,
Salt and pepper.

Boil the broccoli in a pot leaving the tooth.

In another saucepan, brown the sausage without any seasoning and sfumatela with a dash of white wine.

The water for cooking pasta is already on fire and almost boiling and at the right time exudes the pasta to be cooked al dente.

In the pan with the sausage together some broccoli tops whole, ricotta dissolved in a little hot water for cooking, saffron, a handful of parmesan cheese at the right time and add pasta and mantecatela quickly before serving at table by adjusting the salt and pepper.

You can see that sometimes google translator just doesn't work that well! Nonetheless, it was close enough to a recipe that I decided to have a go  ...

The results were one of the best pasta dishes I have made in years!

Tagliatelle con Broccolo Romano, Salsiccia, Ricotta e Zafferano

4 nests of dried tagliatelle noodles (about half of a package)
2 plain sausage links, removed from the casings
1 Roman broccoli, cut into florets
3/4 cup ricotta cheese
3/4 teaspoon saffron
1/2 cupdry white wine
Freshly grated parmesan cheese - the real stuff, always the real stuff!
Salt and pepper

Boil the broccoli until tender crisp. Drain, Rinse under cold water to stop the cooking. Leave in a colander in the sink to drain completely while you finish the other parts of the sauce.

Brown the sausage meat in a deep frying pan without any seasoning. When cooked pour int h wine. Alow the wine to steam off.

In  large pot of boiling water cook the pasta until al dente. Reserve 2 cups of the cooking liquid. Drain and set aside.

Dissolve the ricotta in 1/2 cup boiling cooking liquid.

In the pan with the sausage mix together the cooked broccoli, ricotta/hot water mixture, saffron, a handful of freshly grated parmesan cheese. Add the cooked pasta and stir together quickly.

Serve at once.

Comments

[michele Harrison]

Anything that comes highly recommended by you goes on my must try list! I have never noticed Broccolo Romano at our farmer's market or at the L stores. Where did you find it?

Michele

[JDeQ]

It was at the Burlington Farmer's market - there is a farmer who grows interesting cauliflower and heirloom broccoli. Funnily I bought one at Wegmans yesterday prior to heading back across the border.