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
Jeremy is a student at Cornell University double majoring in Spanish and Italian with significant coursework in classes such as nutrition, food science and culinary science. He has years of experience as a home cook, working at a local bakery, and teaching cooking classes at Williams-Sonoma. After starting a TikTok account in March 2020 while quarantined in his childhood home, Jeremy’s presence grew to over 1.5 million followers in the first 6 months. During that time, he was featured in People Magazine, Fox News, BBC Radio, BuzzFeed, Tasty, Spoon University, and USA Today, among other media outlets.
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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!