AN ITALIAN BROCCOLI RECIPE TO MAKE EVERY DAY!

I confess, I love broccoli.  I eat it in the morning with eggs.  I eat broccoli at lunch.  My kids love broccoli too, so I might even eat it again at dinner.  This Italian broccoli recipe is my absolute favorite and I make broccoli a lot of different ways to keep it interesting!  We are going to give it a quick braise with butter, some spice and just a touch of garlic.  The combination is rich and full of flavor.  Hopefully you will like it as well!

HOW TO PREPARE THE BROCCOLI

I've had lots of questions over the years about the easiest way to trim broccoli, whether for the steamer or in a pan.  Typically I don't even use a knife when working with broccoli.  All you need to do is hold it by the stalk, pull of the leaves and then break off the florets at their base.  With this method, you can trim an entire head of broccoli in under a minute.  I need to make a video for this.  It's on the list!

I do like to rinse my broccoli before cooking it.  I've found that rinsing the head of broccoli when it is broken down first is easier then rinsing the whole head.  For some reason the whole head seems to shed water and I don't think that it gets rinsed well.  Remember that even though it doesn't look dirty, it comes from a field somewhere!  Toss those florets right into a sieve and give em a good rinse.

BRAISING BROCCOLI

This isn't a hugely popular way to cook broccoli and I'm just not sure why.  We are going to load up a pan with a tight fitting lid with all the ingredients, turn the burner on high and in seven minutes, we have perfectly cooked broccoli.  When I say perfectly cooked, I mean it.  The seasonings are in there.  The butter is in there.  And there will be no soggy broccoli in this pan.  Nobody wants soggy broccoli!

You will find that all of our braising liquid will evaporate, which is a good thing in this case.  We don't want our broccoli coming out boiled.  When it comes to broccoli, unless you're blanching it, boiled broccoli will lose all of its nutrients and body.  Yep, that means soggy, tasteless broccoli.  Yuck.  With the braising method, we're going to add in just enough water to steam the broccoli.  When the water evaporates the butter will continue to cook the broccoli, adding a nice caramelization and flavor.

If you want to kick this up just a notch, add in some crumbled bacon or substitute the butter with some rendered bacon fat.  Oh it is just so good.

QUICK COOKING TIP: If you're open to it, using the stalk in this Italian broccoli recipe is a wonderful addition to the dish.  I run a vegetable peeler down the outside and cut it up into ¼" thick coins.  The coins that are flat on the bottom of the pan pick up a wonderful sear that tastes just incredible.  Plus, you get more bang for your buck by using the stalk.  It's delicious.

Up next: the Italian Broccoli Recipe.