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Shallow white bowl of ditalini with olive-green braised broccoli, black olives and pine nuts on a linen cloth

Pasta con i Broccoli Affogati: Braised in Red Wine

Broccoli braised in red wine with onion, anchovy, olives and raisins, then tossed with ditalini and pecorino. Serves 4 in 55 minutes.
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Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Total Time 55 minutes
Servings: 4 servings
Course: Main Course (Pasta)
Cuisine: Southern Italian
Calories: 546
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 320 g dried ditalini or broken spaghetti
  • 700 g broccoli about 2 crowns, florets cut to 3-4 cm, stems peeled and sliced 1 cm thick
  • 4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil / 60 ml
  • 1 yellow onion medium (150 g); thinly sliced
  • 3 cloves garlic thinly sliced
  • 6 anchovy fillets in oil drained
  • 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
  • 150 ml dry red wine
  • 100 ml water
  • 60 g pitted black olives Gaeta or Taggiasca, halved
  • 30 g raisins
  • 30 g pine nuts
  • 60 g pecorino romano finely grated, plus extra to serve
  • 1/2 tsp fine sea salt for the sauce, plus 2 tbsp for the pasta water
  • black pepper to taste; freshly ground

Method
 

  1. Bring 4 L / 4 quarts of water to a boil in a 5-quart / 4.7 L pot. Meanwhile, toast the pine nuts in a 20 cm / 8-inch dry skillet over medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes until golden and fragrant, then tip them onto a plate.
  2. Heat the olive oil in a 28 cm / 11-inch deep sauté pan over medium-low heat. Add the onion and cook for 8 minutes, stirring often, until soft and pale gold.
  3. Add the garlic, anchovies and chili flakes. Stir for 2 minutes until the anchovies dissolve into the oil and the garlic smells sweet but hasn't browned.
  4. Add the broccoli, olives, raisins, wine, water and 1/2 tsp salt. Bring to a simmer, cover, and cook over medium-low heat for 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes, until the stems are fork-tender and the florets collapse into an olive-green sauce. If it's still bright green at 10 minutes, keep going.
  5. When 10 minutes of braising remain, salt the boiling water with 2 tbsp salt and cook the dried ditalini or broken spaghetti for 1 minute less than the package time. Reserve 250 ml of the pasta water, then drain.
  6. Add the drained pasta to the broccoli with 120 ml of the pasta water. Cook over medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring, until the sauce clings to the pasta and no liquid pools in the pan.
  7. Take the pan off the heat and stir in half the pecorino, the toasted pine nuts and black pepper. Serve at once in warm bowls with the remaining pecorino.

Notes

  • Keep the pan covered during the braise so the broccoli steams and simmers at once.
  • Taste before adding salt at the end, since anchovy, olives and pecorino are all salty.
  • Reserve 250 ml pasta water before draining, and use about 120 ml to bind the sauce.
  • Toast the pine nuts until golden but watch them, as they burn in seconds.