Rigatoni with Roman Broccoli Sauce

I got this cookbook, Milk Street Tuesday Nights, by Christopher Kimball, recently from the library and after briefly looking through it, I loved so many recipes from it. Each recipe has a photo and most of them are pretty basic and quick to make. I decided on this one because the original recipe it references calls for broccoli leaves, which I currently have in the garden! It was a pretty fast, straight forward recipe and we grilled some chicken to eat on the side with it. The green sauce was nicely pungent in flavor and beautiful in color. The sauce is similiarish to a pesto but also different. It's another good sauce recipe to have in the back of one's pocket when you want a quick dinner with lots of flavor. 

Some things I did this time were:

• I halved the amount of spinach leaves to add and didn't add any of the broccoli stalk (I also got broccoli crowns so there was hardly any stalk.)
•  I eyeballed the amount of ingredients I was adding and used a whole pound of pasta, and the sauce to pasta ratio seemed pretty on.
• There was a note that I did for this recipe as well - "for deeper flavor with any pasta dish, borrow a trick from out recipe for pasta all'Amatriciana and add an extra 1-ounce chunk of cheese to the pasta boil water. It effortlessly infuses the pasta with extra flavor."

Rigatoni with Roman Broccoli Sauce

Serves: 4

Time: 35 minutes

Ingredients:

     Kosher salt and ground black pepper

     1 pound broccoli, stems and florets separated

     1 1/2 cups packed baby spinach

     2 medium garlic cloves, chopped

     4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) salted butter, cut into pieces

     1 tablespoon drained capers

     1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

     2 tablespoons grated lemon zest, divided

     12 ounces rigatoni pasta

     1 ounce pecorino Romano or Parmesan cheese, finely grated (1/2 cup), plus more to serve

Steps:

1. In a large pot, bring 4 quarts water and 2 tablespoons salt to boil. Peel the broccoli stems, reserving any leaves and cut crosswise into 1/2-inch rounds. Add the stems and leaves to the boil water and cook until fully tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in the spinach and cook until wilted, about 20 seconds. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the vegetables to a blender; reserve 1/2 cup of the cooking water. Keep the water at a boil. 
2. Cut the broccoli florets into 1 to 1 1/2 inch pieces. Add the florets to the boiling water and cook until crisp-tender, about 3 minutes. Using the slotted spoon, transfer to a colander and rinse under cold water until cooled. Again, keep the water at a boil. 
3. To the blender, add the garlic, butter, capers, pepper flakes, 3/4 teaspoon salt, 1 tablespoon lemon zest, and the reserved broccoli cooking water. Puree until smooth and bright green, about 30 seconds. Taste and season with salt and pepper. 
4. Stir the rigatoni into the boil water and cook until al dente. Reserve 1/2 cup of the cooking water, then drain. Return the pasta to the pot and add the broccoli florets, the broccoli puree, 1/4 cup of the reserved cooking water, the remaining 1 tablespoon lemon zest, and the cheese. 
5. Cook over medium, stirring constantly, until the sauce thickens slightly and the pasta is well coated, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from the heat. Taste and season with salt and pepper. 

EAT