X

Broccoli with Feta and Angel Hair Pasta

Makes 4 Servings
Hands-On Time: 10 Minutes
Total Preparation Time: 20 Minutes

1 bunch broccoli (about 1 1/2 pounds)
12 oz angel hair pasta
2 c Homemade Vegetable or Chicken Stock or canned broth
1/2 to 1 t crushed red pepper flakes
6 oz feta cheese
Kosher salt

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Cut the broccoli tops into bite-size florets; trim and peel the stems and slice them 1/2 inch thick (about 7 cups total). When the
pot of water comes to a boil, add the broccoli. Cook for 3 minutes; remove the broccoli to a bowl using a slotted spoon.

Add the angel hair to the boiling water and cook until al dente, following the package directions. Drain well and return the pasta to the cooking pot.

Meanwhile, combine the vegetable stock and red pepper flakes to taste in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Crumble the cheese (about 1 1/2 cups).

Add the broccoli, vegetable stock, and cheese to the drained pasta. Heat over medium heat until hot; add salt, if needed, and serve.

COOKS NOTES:
What kind of feta cheese should you use? (The notes below come from Rob Kaufeldt’s, “The Murray’s Cheese Handbook,” an excellent little quick reference book.)

There are three main varieties you will find in the store:

  • French –Delicate, creamy and balanced, less salty and more mild than the
  • other two choices
  • Greek – the original and still an excellent choice, milder than Bulgarian and
  • more complex than French
  • Bulgarian – very salty, crumbly texture with a taste reminiscent of oil cured Moroccan olives

Any one of these fetas would work well here, although if you are budget minded, a generic supermarket brand is fine too since the cheese is not the main star in this dish.

Vegetable stock: Whenever I am prepping vegetables I save the scraps (the peels, the root end of the onion, etc), throw them into a resealable bag and pop the bag in the freezer. I keep adding vegetable scraps until I have accumulated enough to make a stock. I combine the scraps with water, bring to a simmer and simmer for about 1 hour. I strain the liquid, discard the scraps and have vegetable stock at the ready. However, if you just want to make a vegetable stock from scratch with whole vegetables here is a good recipe:

Homemade Vegetable Stock
Makes about 4 cups
8 medium mushrooms, preferably cremini
3 medium onions
6 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons tomato paste
4 medium stalks celery
3 medium carrots
1 medium Russet potato
10 cups cold water
2 sprigs of fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 tablespoon soy sauce (low-sodium if you prefer)
2 teaspoons whole peppercorns
2 Turkish bay leaves
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Clean, trim, and coarsely chop the mushrooms (about 2 2/3 cups). Coarsely chop the onions (about 3 cups) and garlic (about 2 tablespoons). Heat the oil over medium heat in a large stockpot. Add the mushrooms, onions, and garlic and cook, stirring until golden, about 10 minutes. Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring, 1 minute.

Meanwhile, very coarsely chop the celery (about 1 1/2 cups) and carrots (about 1 1/2 cups). Scrub and coarsely chop the potato with the skin on (about 1 3/4 cups). Add the water, celery, carrots, potato, parsley, soy sauce, peppercorns, and bay leaves to the stockpot. Bring the mixture to a boil over high heat; reduce the heat to medium-low immediately and simmer, for 1 hour, adding water as necessary to keep vegetables covered.

Strain the stock through a colander into a bowl. Discard the solids and return the liquid to the stockpot; boil until reduced by one quarter. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Sponsors

Oceania Cruises is the world’s leading culinary and destination focused cruise line. The line’s seven small, luxurious ships carry no more than 1,250 guests and feature The Finest Cuisine at Sea and destination- rich itineraries that span the globe. Expertly curated travel experiences aboard the designer-inspired, small ships call on more than 450 marquee and boutique ports across Europe, Alaska, Asia, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, New England, Canada, Bermuda, the Caribbean, the Panama Canal, Tahiti and the South Pacific in addition to the epic 180-day Around the World Voyages. The brand has an additional 1,200-guest Vista Class ship on order for delivery in 2025.

Thanks to

Air Travel Provided by Alaska Airlines |

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*  
  

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.