Hi. I’ve been holding out on something rather important. I’ve had a favourite recipe that I have been quietly, secretly whipping up every so often over the last 6 months. I usually make it for dinner, and it’s usually wolfed down before I realise I have yet again forgotten to photograph it to share with you. Until two weeks ago when I made it for my new flatmate who said “you should put this up on the blog!” And so the very next day we made it again for lunch, and she helped me photograph it.
This is the recipe that I turn to every time I feel like I need to adult a little bit. Nothing makes you feel responsible quite like a dinner of greens, no? The thing is however, it also conveniently happens to be one of my favourite treat dinners, and if I am completely honest, it is purely incidental that it happens to count as a whole day’s worth of vegetable intake.
I wish I could take credit for the recipe, but it’s an Ina classic, and one that has been preserved for posterity on countless blogs and websites. My only contribution to the recipe is the addition of almond flakes, which in my humble opinion, is a small but mighty tweak.
And if you’re new to the roasting game, this is a great recipe to start with because it is very very hard to mess up. Broccoli is a forgiving vegetable, and besides turning your oven on and passing out, I can’t really see a situation where this recipe could be botched up. This serves as a great side, but I generally eat it as it is, and call it a meal. In this case, a large sized broccoli would serve 2 (since it shrinks quite a bit in the oven).
Here are some ways you can improvise: Use sesame seeds instead of almond flakes. Add thinly sliced garlic to the broccoli before roasting it. However, I’d suggest you don’t skip the parmesan and the lime – the parmesan helps the dish achieve a depth that roasted broccoli can’t achieve on its own, and lime keeps things light, and brings a bolt of brightness to the party.
Ina’s Roasted Broccoli
(Serves 2 as mains, 4 as a side)
Ingredients
1 large head broccoli, cut into small florets
4 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp almond flakes
½ cup parmesan, grated
1 tsp freshly ground pepper
Juice of half a lime
Salt to taste
Method
Arrange the florets in a single layer on a baking tray, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Toss with olive oil and sprinkle the almond flakes.
Roast in a preheated oven at 200 degrees Celcius for 20-25 minutes, until the florets are golden and crisp around the edges.
Remove from oven. If it seems dry, toss with a little olive oil before squeezing lime juice over it.
Sprinkle with parmesan, and serve hot.
Photos by Rakshita Mittal