Pasta And Broccoli In Spicy Cheese Sauce- The Husband's Recipe

I was not a child who had to be forced to eat my vegetables. As a matter of fact, broccoli has always been one of my favorites and I couldn't understand broccoli-resistant people. The Husband, though, when we first met had to come around to the idea. Fast forward more than twenty years and he's actually creating broccoli dishes. Like this pasta in a cheesy broccoli sauce. Here's the recipe and the Blond's description:

The inspiration for this recipe came from a very unlikely source, Masaharu Morimoto.  During Battle Broccoli on Iron Chef, Morimoto made  a dish called Broccoli Steak where he carved a vertical slice of the whole broccoli and roasted it in the oven, serving it like a steak. The judges were impressed. It got me thinking why I've rarely seen a roasted broccoli pasta in restaurants. Most of the time it is steamed, boiled and maybe sautéed but not roasted. So I tried it at home and the results were delicious. Roasting gives broccoli a sweeter, smoky flavor. The delicate florets become a little charred in the process and the look may not be appealing enough for a restaurant. I don’t care. In this specific recipe the broccoli is married to a spicy cheese sauce because Gaia likes everything cheesy and spicy. It will work just as well with just olive oil and garlic or a pesto sauce.

 Ingredients:
200g (7 oz) pasta
450g (1 lb) broccoli florets
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
 ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
 ½ cup white wine
 1 medium Jalapeno pepper cut to small pieces
 salt, pepper, chili flakes to taste 

 Heat the oven to 365 F. Break the broccoli into florets cutting the larger ones into 2-3 pieces so they are somewhat uniform in size. 

Mix with 2-3 tbsp olive oil, salt and pepper and spread evenly in a roasting pan and roast for about 15 minutes. Turn the florets around, they should be browned on the bottom and roast for another 15 minutes until very fragrant and the broccoli looks charred in places. 

Remove florets to a cutting board and using a chef’s knife chop into small pieces. 

In a separate bowl combine the wine, jalapeno and chili flakes. 

Cook the pasta and after draining the water, put into the wine mixture and add the cheese. Stir well and let the heat from the cooked pasta  work its magic on the cheese and wine to form a nice cheesy sauce. Stir in the cut broccoli and serve.