{"id":8203,"date":"2025-09-23T20:56:51","date_gmt":"2025-09-23T20:56:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bhiggs.x10hosting.com\/foodie\/?p=8203"},"modified":"2025-09-23T20:56:55","modified_gmt":"2025-09-23T20:56:55","slug":"rigatoni-with-roman-broccoli-sauce","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bhiggs.x10hosting.com\/foodie\/rigatoni-with-roman-broccoli-sauce\/","title":{"rendered":"Rigatoni with Roman Broccoli Sauce"},"content":{"rendered":"
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<\/div>\n\t<\/g><\/svg><\/span> Print Recipe<\/a>\n\t\n\t\n<\/div>\n

<\/span>Rigatoni with Roman Broccoli Sauce<\/span><\/h2>\n
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Romans use the leaves that grow around heads of broccoli to make a flavorful sauce for pasta. In the U.S., most of the leaves are stripped off before broccoli is sold. Our recipe instead uses the stems, which are equally flavorful and produce a silky sauce. Baby spinach retains the color of the original recipe.<\/span><\/div>\n
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Total Time<\/span>35 minutes<\/span><\/span> mins<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div>\n
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Servings: <\/span>4<\/span><\/div>\n\n
Author: <\/span>Kemp Minifie – Milk Street<\/span><\/div>\n\n\n

<\/span>Ingredients<\/span><\/h3>
  • 1<\/span> lb<\/span> broccoli<\/span> stems and florets separated<\/span><\/li>
  • Kosher salt and ground black pepper<\/span><\/li>
  • 1\u00bd<\/span> cups<\/span> packed baby spinach<\/span><\/li>
  • 2<\/span> medium cloves<\/span> garlic<\/span> chopped<\/span><\/li>
  • 4<\/span> tablespoons (\u00bd stick)<\/span> salted butter, cut into 4 pieces<\/span><\/li>
  • 1<\/span> tablespoon<\/span> drained capers<\/span><\/li>
  • \u00bd<\/span> teaspoon<\/span> red pepper flakes<\/span><\/li>
  • 2<\/span> tablespoons<\/span> finely grated lemon zest<\/span> divided<\/span><\/li>
  • 12<\/span> ounces<\/span> rigatoni pasta<\/span><\/li>
  • 1<\/span> ounce (finely grated \u00bd cup)<\/span> pecorino Romano or Parmesan cheese<\/span> plus more to serve<\/span><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/div>\n

    <\/span>Instructions<\/span><\/h3>
    • In a large pot, bring 4 quarts water and 2 tablespoons salt to a boil. Peel the broccoli stems, reserving any leaves, and cut crosswise into \u00bd-inch rounds. Add the stems and leaves to the boiling water and cook until fully tender, about 10 minutes.* <\/span><\/div><\/li>
    • Stir in the spinach and cook until wilted, about 20 seconds. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the vegetables to a blender; reserve \u00bd cup of the cooking water. Keep the water at a boil.<\/span><\/div><\/li>
    • Cut the broccoli florets into 1- to 1\u00bd-inch pieces. Add the florets to the boiling water and cook until crisp-tender, about 3 minutes. Using the slotted spoon, transfer to a colander and rinse under cold water until cooled. Again keep the water at a boil.<\/div><\/li>
    • To the blender, add the garlic, butter, capers, pepper flakes, \u00be teaspoon salt, 1 tablespoon of the lemon zest and the reserved broccoli cooking water. Puree until smooth and bright green, about 30 seconds. Taste and season with salt and pepper.<\/div><\/li>
    • Stir the rigatoni into the boiling water and cook until al dente. Reserve \u00bd cup of the cooking water, then drain. <\/span><\/div><\/li>
    • Return pasta to the pot and add the broccoli florets, the broccoli puree, \u00bc cup of the reserved cooking water, the remaining 1 tablespoon lemon zest and the cheese. Cook over medium, stirring constantly, until the sauce thickens slightly and the pasta is well coated, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from the heat. Taste and season with salt and pepper.<\/span><\/div><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/div>\n
      <\/div>\n

      <\/span>Notes<\/span><\/h3>
        \n
      • Don\u2019t undercook the broccoli stems. We’re accustomed to cooking vegetables until crisp-tender, but the stems here should be cooked until fully tender.<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8205,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wprm-recipe-roundup-name":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-description":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[134,2881,136,179,2505,4440,140,1712],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8203","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-american","category-boiled","category-entree","category-italian","category-lunch","category-pasta","category-side","category-vegetarian"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/bhiggs.x10hosting.com\/foodie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Rigatoni-Roman-Broccoli-Sauce.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bhiggs.x10hosting.com\/foodie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8203","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bhiggs.x10hosting.com\/foodie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bhiggs.x10hosting.com\/foodie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bhiggs.x10hosting.com\/foodie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bhiggs.x10hosting.com\/foodie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8203"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bhiggs.x10hosting.com\/foodie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8203\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8209,"href":"https:\/\/bhiggs.x10hosting.com\/foodie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8203\/revisions\/8209"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bhiggs.x10hosting.com\/foodie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8205"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bhiggs.x10hosting.com\/foodie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8203"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bhiggs.x10hosting.com\/foodie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8203"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bhiggs.x10hosting.com\/foodie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8203"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}