A Vegetable-based pasta sauce!
Fun fact: orecchiette means “little ears” in Italian. I learned that from Giada de Laurentis back in her Everyday Italian days. I came up with this recipe as a combination of a Giada recipe I made a lifetime ago and a long-cooked broccoli rabe recipe I read about in my Salt, Acid, Fat, Heat book by Samin Nosrat.
Long-cooked vegetables are basically over-sauteed so they’re very tender and can break down into something saucy. Broccoli and broccolini work really well for this application, but really, any vegetable lying around in the vegetable drawer would probably work.
Ingredient Breakdown
Here’s what ya need…an onion, thinly sliced, garlic, 8 oz broccolini, EVOO and/or butter, 6 slices of prosciutto or bacon, grated Parmesan, a pound of pasta, and some croutons. I think Giada originally toasted her breadcrumbs, but there are enough pots and pans going on here. Crushing croutons is a fine substitute for getting out a frying pan to toast breadcrumbs.
Reserving the pasta water is important to do! This is the water the pasta has cooked in and has lended some sticky starchiness to, so it helps thicken the sauce. Make sure to reserve a cup before you drain the noodles!
Cook the onions in butter or EVOO for 20 minutes in a frying pan. Add the garlic and broccolini and cook another 20 minutes. Somewhere in that time boil water and make the pasta, and before draining it, save a cup of the pasta water to add to the vegetables and let the sauce thicken. Also bake the prosciutto for 10 minutes so it’s crisp. Toss the pasta in the vegetables with torn prosciutto, and top with cheese and crushed croutons.
I’ve been counting my macros this past week to get a check on my nutrition. The general aim is to get 50% of your calories from carbs, 30% from fat, and 20% from protein. This orecchiette comes pretty close to those percentages, but you could get it even closer by adding chicken, steak, or shrimp!
I love classic sauces like tomato or cream based ones, but a vegetable-based pasta sauce is probably a little more virtuous… This one happens to also be delicious AND heartily Jim-approved, so you know it’s good!
Broccolini Orecchiette
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp Extra virgin olive oil
- 1 medium Onion sliced thinly
- ¼ tsp Sea salt
- ½ tsp Sugar
- 4 cloves Garlic Minced
- 1 tbsp Salted butter
- 8 oz Broccolini heads trimmed and stems chopped
- ¼ tsp Sea salt
- 1 lb Orecchiette pasta, dry
- ½ cup Pasta water reserved
- ⅓ cup Grated Parmesan cheese plus more for serving
- 16 Croutons crushed
- 6 slices Prosciutto
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F / 175°C and line a baking pan with parchment paper.
- In a large skillet on medium flame, heat extra virgin olive oil until shimmering. Add to it the thinly sliced onions, salt, and sugar, and cook down until golden brown, about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- While the onions are cooking, start a large pot of water with a palmful of kosher salt, about 1-2 tbsp and bring to a boil. Add orecchiette and cook until tender, about 12-15 minutes. Reserve a half cup of the pasta water and drain the rest. Return orecchiette to the pot.
- Move the onions to the side of the pan. Melt 1 tbsp of butter in the pan, and when hot, add the garlic to it. Stir until fragrant, about 20 seconds. Then add the garlic to the onions to combine. Add all of the broccolini to the pan, stirring to combine. Add pasta water to the pan. Cook another 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Arrange the prosciutto slices on the baking pan. Bake in the oven for 12 minutes, until lightly crisp.
- Add the Parmesan and broccolini mix to the orecchiette. Break apart pieces of the prosciutto and add it to the orecchiette, too, stirring it all to combine. Adjust for salt, if needed.
- Serve topped with crushed croutons and more Parmesan, if desired.