Orecchiette with Broccolini, Cannellini Beans, and Tomato
July 2, 2019 | By Jeremy Scheck | 2 Comments
Orecchiette with Broccolini, Cannellini Beans, and Tomato
Serves 2
Gluten-free option: use gluten-free pasta
Ingredients
- 2 heads broccolini or similar green vegetable, cut into long strips
- 1/2 pound box orecchiette or other short pasta
- 1/3 cup kosher salt (for seasoning the water for the veg and pasta)
- Extra-virgin olive oil, to taste
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- Crushed red pepper flakes, to taste
- 1/2 cup canned cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
- 5 fresh cherry tomatoes, cut in half
- Kosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper
- Parmigiano reggiano cheese, for garnish
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil. Add the broccolini; 1-2 minutes until crisp and bright green, use tongs to transfer the broccolini into ice water. Blanching it like this keeps vegetables crisp and vibrant.
- Add the pasta to the boiling water; cook to al dente. Meanwhile, coat the bottom of a medium skillet set over medium heat with extra-virgin olive oil. Add the crushed garlic and the crushed red pepper flakes; cook about 2 minutes until the garlic is softened and the oil is perfumed.
- Add the tomatoes and the beans to the medium skillet; season with kosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper. Cook to soften the tomatoes. Add the broccolini to warm through on low heat.
- When the pasta is ready, reserve a cup of cooking water before draining the pasta and adding to the skillet with the vegetables. Add a little cooking water to taste, and serve with more black pepper, pamigiano reggiano cheese, and a drizzle of olive oil.
Jeremy Scheck spent high school perfecting his signature cupcakes, making quiches and coffee cake by the dozen at a local bakery, and teaching cooking demonstrations at Williams-Sonoma. As a 10th grader in 2016, he began documenting his favorite recipes on a blog called The After School Bakery. In college, Jeremy learned to make 50 gallons of ice cream in the food science lab, how to prune grape vines in the teaching vineyard, the best way to milk a cow in Northern Italy, and why film photography is an art worth saving. As a sophomore in 2020, he traded blog photos for video and became a TikTok culinary sensation. Jeremy has been featured on the Today show, The Washington Post, Bloomberg, BBC Radio, People, and Access Hollywood, among others. Jeremy is a graduate of Cornell University with a double major in Spanish and Italian, and significant coursework in food science. He lives in Brooklyn, NY. Learn more about Jeremy.
Don’t let the lack of comments deceive you. This meal is a 10/10. I doubled it. The reserved water, salt, pepper, and olive oil are great together. The cannellini beans tuck themselves inside of the orecchiette — it’s really cute. I subbed grape tomatoes but should have heavily increased the quantity accordingly. I also think strips of broccolini are challenging so…maybe cut into small pieces? It is also rather expensive (at least here in FL) so keep that in mind. Overall: really great. I enjoyed this a lot and will make it again.
I made again and just fyi the 1/3 cup of kosher salt is insane! Tread lightly!