Thanks to Graza for sponsoring! FYI, we had a miscommunication about the offer: It's a $5 OFF offer, not a $5 offer! Such mistakes are usually caught in the prepublication review process, but this time it wasn't. Sorry! RU-vid lets you make basic edits post-publication right now, so I've removed the inaccurate lines from the video, but the file might not update immediately. I really do like the olive oil they've sent me! Get $5 OFF a gift set of Drizzle and Sizzle with my code RAGUSEA at www.graza.co/RAGUSEA
I'm normally 100% in agreement about steaming, or stir frying, vegetables - especially broccoli. That said, classic pasta broccoli uses the broccoli boiling water as the pasta water and imparts an extra character to the pasta, so I think this is a good exception to the no boiling rule. 1) Because boiling briefly isn’t robbing that much and 2) you get some of that back in the pasta. The flavor difference is noticeable.
My parents still use the knife set they got as a wedding present nearly 40 years ago. I noticed my dad never actually uses the chef's knife and instead always cuts things with the paring knife or a dinner knife. I asked him why and he said the chef's knife is too dull. I grabbed the honer and ran the knife across it a few times and he said it was good as new. I know that's not actually sharpening it, but the fact that even that little effort that made such a huge difference really illustrates ehat you were walking about with that generation and knives.
Back in the day, I always wondered why the bottoms of all the porcelain bowls were gray. Turns out, mom was using those bowls to sharpen the knives. It's no substitute for a proper tool, but it's surprisingly better than nothing at all.
@@MrNoipe it is objectively not. Sharpening is the process of removing material to achieve an increasingly pointed edge. Honing is the process of bending an already sharp edge into alignment, when it is quite literally bent out of shape. I hone my knives about 3 to 5 times a week, and sharpen my knives once every month or two.
I find myself using a garlic press about 50% of the time these days; depends on all sorts of stuff like how much garlic I'm processing, how lazy I'm feeling, if I already have a dirty knife, what the dish is and if it benefits/hurts from large garlic chunks, and if I'm also doing ginger. But the thing that made the difference was getting a garlic press with a built-in "cleaner". It's basically just a grid of pegs on the back-side of the press that fit through the holes to push out anything that gets stuck in them. Cleaning out the holes was always a huge pain and you had to do it or else it got gross, so skipping that part made me more likely to use it. Also, credit where it's due, getting a garlic press was what got me to start using fresh garlic instead of pre-crushed garlic.
Hi Adam, I'm from Italy and in my family almost every time there's a vegetable that needs to be boiled and added to pasta, we use the same cooking water for the vegetable to cook the pasta. I recommend you try pasta with broccoli rabe to try this method. Far better than just the broccoli pasta.
I could just be having a poor comprehension day, but the ad makes it sound like the whole set costs $5, not that its a $5 off coupon, which is what I'm seeing.
I heard it the same way, thought jeeze that is unbelievable as a deal, went immediately to buy, and then saw the much more realistic reality. So was not just you, and I'll keep graza on my list of olive oils to consider when I finish what we already have here at the house.
No not just you, that is how he worded it and it's not just a slip of the tongue either, the actual listing in the description says the same thing "$5 gift set" not $5 off a gift set. Either he worded it incorrectly or the sponsor did and he was just following their talking points to the letter. Either was that's a bit deceptive.
@@pkillboredombut there was no mention of the size. I assumed it was $5 for 2 small taster bottles, given that they called it a gift set. Thats not unrealistic for a promotion.
my host mom in Spain used to make me a salad tossed in high quality Spanish olive oil and salt every day when I studied abroad. best salad of my LIFE. super excited to check out this sponsor!!!
2:00 When recipes call for "parboiling" a green vegetable I usually just steam it like this. As far as I can tell it accomplishes the same task faster, which is to cook the outside of the vegetable just enough to darken it w/o pulverizing the whole thing to mush.
Pretty similar to pesto, but without emulsifiers (like nuts) and basil. I love the simplicity of so much of Italian cuisine. I made this many times but never thought of using raw olive oil. In fact, I have not used raw olive oil for anything but pesto and drizzling on fish and salad. Thanks for opening my mind!
I would always use the entire broccoli stem. Adam is not wrong about the "woody" part of the stem, as I learned this usually happens when broccoli gets old. But you can eat that part as well, you just have to use a peeler to shave the woody part off. The center is still tender, but some may feel it isn't worth the effort. But I personally believe it is worth, sadly in my areas markets rarely carry full, whole crowns. More often than not the stem of the crown is cut off where I live, so I get very little stem. But you can peel the woody broccoli if you want to put in the effort.
From working in produce I found the quickest way to cut a crown into florets is to cut the crown into foruths then slice each fourth along the stalk. Its literally 8 cuts total (plus any big pieces) but its a huge timesaver
You must have a much more hectic life than I do, for you to consider this a huge time saver. I'm in my sixties, and I doubt that I have spent anything close to an hour slicing up broccoli in my life. I've spent a lot more time waiting in line to pick up my kids from high school - just to find out they really wanted me to be late so that they had more time to chat with their friends. Sigh.
I'll try this, but having discovered the magic a little pasta water brings to dishes like this, I'm not sure I'm gonna like omitting it. I usually do finish with a drizzle of my favorite olive oil anyway, so maybe it'll be fine. One trick Smitten Kitchen taught me for cutting up broccoli, that leads to much less mess, is not to chop all the way through florets, but to start the cut, and then tear the florets apart from the stem end. The individual flowers are more likely to stay on the stem this way. It's a little thing, but very satisfying, IMO. She also has a recipe for pasta with longer-cooked broccoli if you, like my wife, prefers her veggies a little less al dente.
I think it's a massive oversight on Adam's part. The pasta water is what turns the olive oil and garlic into an actual sauce. It's a simple process where the starches emulsify the oil and water and it's at the base of the regular aglio e olio. I have no clue how he missed that.
@@psychoedge he knows that but the whole point for him was remaking the exact dish his father made for him as a kid, it's not to improve on it or change it
Italian here, hear me out. Microwave or steam your broccoli. Put half in the blender with a little bit of broccoli water, garlic, olive oil, parmesan or pecorino (optional), one anchovy (optional), soy sauce (optional). Blend everything. Stir fry or just sear the rest of the broccoli, mix everything with the pasta.
Speaking of pasta servings - Ive settled on the normal restaurant serving of pasta in Italy as being the perfect amount for an adult dinner where pasta is the star. That's 80-85 grams, which happens to be 3 US oz. It settles in right around 300 calories, with a reasonable 11 grams of protein that is easily augmented by other sources added.
i break the pasta too after looking around if there is any Italians around. I actually like it better because it does not put to much pasta on my fork when i swirl it around to eat.
The trick is to not start with too many "strands"! Just pick up like 2-4 ones and start swirling. They'll usually pick up 1-3 more on the way, and by the end just pick up some more sauce with your spoon and enjoy! No need to risk a stray Italian getting overly angry with you :)
I like these videos. I am not sure if this is part of the semi-retirement phase or just part of you finishing up obligations with sponsors but I have been enjoying the last few a lot!
When I worked in Morocco, the little shops around me had factory packaged bottles of olive oil for regular cooking, but if you brought an empty bottle, you could ask for a quarter liter or so of "the good stuff" that the shop owner kept in a large bottle under the counter. It was fruity and wonderful.
Without reading what others have said earlier. Please don't throw away that stem part! It can be used in soups, it just needs a bit longer cooking time. About ten minutes!
my favorite way to cut broccoli is to start the same way you do, but instead of cutting the Florettes completely top to bottom to make them smaller, i just cut the stem/make a deep incision and tear them apart. You can even make 2 or 3 incisions for the bigger ones and tear them to pieces along the 'grain'. that makes a lot less of the green ?flowers? fall off and such a lot less mess.
@@JohnHausser I'm confused. I simply stated a fact. I would think that even Adam would want us to call out mistakes? Otherwise you are all just in a cult of personality. I didn't place any blame here, I line Adam's videos. But if we can't say that false statements are misleading then where are we? Same mentality of people coming after mkbhd for giving honest reviews. Mind boggling.
I've watched a good portion of your content over the years. I think I've only commented on a video or two in that time. What I'll say here is a summary of my previous comments. I thoroughly enjoy your presentation style. It comes across very humble and down to earth. Like I'm learning to cook with a friend and doesn't make me feel inadequate (although I am). Actually it's inspired me to give my best when it comes to cooking and to keep an open mind. I have had some success learning from your videos. So thanks for that. Last thing, I hope you are doing well mentally. Your video about your hardships comes to mind. Best wishes to you.
A fun alternative to steaming brocolli is dry roasting (roast in the oven with no oil or water). Even without oil some parts of the florets will get browned and add more texture.
$5 gift set makes it sound like it is $5, not $5 off of the base price of over $30. I don't mind the fact that you make sponsored videos, I understand you gotta pay the bills, but false advertising/ deception like that is pretty annoying and dishonest. Not sure if they write the ad read and the description but I don't appreciate the phrasing.
My mom started with one really nice french chef knife in the 70’s then discovered Chicago Cutlery in the 80’s. She always used cutting boards because they don’t dull your knives like formica and your countertop stays nice. She did use a garlic press for a while until learning about smashing the garlic from a cooking show. I used a garlic press around the same time mom did but it took too long to clean so I just used a knife, usually was using it anyway and this was at very least a 2 for. Found I don’t really like a lot of gadgets. Though a cherry pitter and emersion blender are awesome.
If you boil the pasta in a skillet it will concentrate the starch enough to emulsify the olive oil but a much creamier texture. I do the same dish but with kale instead of broccoli.
Love this retirement content. To be honest I found you after you "retired" and love listening to you about the things you do and what's going on in your life.
This dual oil technique applies to butter too. You can use butter for browning and finish with uncooked butter too, it's worth it for all the same reasons. You can also parm in pan and parm on plate. I almost always do early and late garlic. It's like, tEmPoRaL hEtErOgEnY!
Steaming should logically take longer than boiling as the heat transfer of boiling is much higher. The reason it's faster here is becaue the heat transfer from the pan I think.
Heat transfer is driven by both the heat transfer coefficient but also delta-T, the difference in temperature. Steam is hotter than boiling water and therefore can cook quicker than just boiling.
To put it simply, steam is just boiling but at a much higher temperature and suspended in the air. If you've ever had a steam burn you'll know it can happen much faster than a boiling water.
@@kjdude8765 The boiling water will be just below 100 deg C, and the steam will be just above 100 deg C. There will be a very small but negligible difference in temperatures.
Hey Adam. I love your videos but this is not how it's done and how we do it. You cook the brokkoli in water in which afterwards you boil the pasta in. Then you take the Brokkoli, Garlic and oil in a pan while the pasta is cooking on medium heat. The you emulsify everything with a splash of pasta water and make sauce. The Brokkoli should disintegrate a little and be part of the sauce. greetings from Italy. Love. Buon appetito. P.s.: In the end garnish with fresh olive oil ( the best you can find) and optional cheese.
I've been working on aglio e olio for a while, and there's always been something not right about it I think I've basically been treating it like an Italian stirfry. But I can definitely see how keeping everything much more delicate and separate and cooked gently instead of just chucking it call together like a stirfry, can see how that would make a big difference
I love steaming broccoli by putting the stems in first, barely covering them with water, then putting the florets on top to be steamed while the stems get a shallow boil
You know, this is something I never quite fully realized despite the fact that I *know* the difference between cooked and raw olive oil and just how easily noticeable it is. Somehow I never made the connection, despite pasta with lentils, which I always, always add a drizzle of olive oil into at the end, being one of my favorite foods.
same here and i cook,never too old to learn. I like his idea of a bit to cook the garlic and finish with the rest. chefs do this constantly,just not with this dish.
The single best way to cook broccoli is to boil the stalks and steam the heads by having enough broccoli in the pan that you can squeeze them in stand it like a forest and put the water only to the top of the stalks. You can't do it in a small pan it needs to be a wide solid based pan with a lid and you need like 2 or 3 heads of broccoli. Although it does microwave fairly well. It's a genuinely difficult technique to get right. I've never been able to do it as well as my aunt did it. No one has ever made broccoli as good as hers professional or home cook and I've tried a lot. Either the stalks are undercooked or the heads overcooked.
I like to use garlic press because I very often like to add it raw, so I want it to turn into mush, which takes a bit longer with a knife. When I cook it I'll use a knife because the cooking will take care of that part in that case.
Back in the 1980s, I was told by some TV chef (i.e. old-school "influencers") that using a garlic press was the best way to be sure to get all those good, freshly activated sulfur compounds into food. The more freshly squashed the garlic, the more health benefits it provides. Not sure if that has proven to be scientifically true or not. And, yes, we did have knives and cutting boards even back in the dark ages; your Dad (who is probably of my generation) just opted for the more advanced technology of a garlic press. Maybe he even heard or saw the same advice I did.
this is a good way to heat shock and then warp your pan so that it no longer sits flat on a cooktop. not a problem for people with gas stoves, but will be a big problem for those with flat tops.
I eat that every week or two, but we prefer shorter, wider pasta (penne, farfalle, rigatoni, fusilli eventually) that better fits the size of the broccoli pieces. You can also peel the lignified part of the broccoli trunk and cook the soft, sweet core
Yes, it kills me to see the waste of broccoli/cauliflower stems. You can also sliver them fine and toss them in a salad. So good! (But I'm also the lady who makes soup with the cauliflower leaves...)
I'd be interested in trying it this way. Normally, I'd partially steam the broccoli to where it is slightly underdone - and then brown the tips by placing them in a large frying pan with olive oil, garlic, black pepper and crushed red pepper. Really brings out that earthy, almost nutty flavor that really works well with the olive oil and peppers. This sounds a lot lighter, fresher, fruitier and I had never even considered going with that profile.
This is, in my opinion, elevated if you sear the broccoli a little bit too. (I always go for adding butter and emulsifying some of that pasta water too because all of the olive oil I can get at the store is just, or may as well be, vegetable oil it seems like.)
yeah, you break down broccoli the same way! though I have a couple tips. instead of clanking onto the board to break down to bite sized pieces, slice most of the way through then twist, to break apart the last bit. you'll end up with fewer "bits" sliced up. and I tend to use the "heel" of the blade, it's closer to my hand so more easy to control, that and I slice tigher to the main stalk, since.. I tend to clank through the stalk like making carrot rounds. right down to the base! if it's a soup, or roasted, it all softens enough and there's no waste!
I made that up for dinner over 40 years ago. I'm sure the Italians were doing it, but I didn't know about it. I worked at night, got home wee hours, had a college fridge, so I would go to the corner store where I could buy -- broccoli! So it was often pasta with broccoli, garlic, lots of garlic.
I am not sure about the 'steam can be hotter' (2:32) because while it will have a higher temperature, it may transfer less total heat because liquids are physically denser than gasses. I would agree it can have a higher temperature, but cooking (and temperature sensation) is more about the total energy transferred and the rate at which that happens. Liquids make better contact (number of water molecules per second hitting the food) with the food and could transfer more heat at a lower temperature
That porch is perfect for a simple meal! I am eliminating oil from my diet on doctor's advice - not good for circulatory system - who knew? Anyhow, this is what I do with pasta and broccoli: Cut up broccoli about a half hour before I start the pasta water. While pasta water is coming to a boil, I mince garlic and chop up sun-dried tomatoes that are packed dry, without oil. I place the garlic and the sun-dried tomatoes in the bottom of a serving bowl. I add pasta to the boiling water and set the timer, according to what pasta I am using. Penne pasta and buccatini - either will do. At three minutes before the pasta is done, I toss in the broccoli. If the water has a hesitation to come back to boil, I might keep the broccoli and pasta cooking for an extra minute. I use a LOT of broccoli. When the broccoli and pasta are cooked, I drain them and immediately put into the bowl on top of the garlic and sun-dried tomatoes. I might add a bit of pasta water if the combo is too dry. Done! Only the pasta pot is left to wash... well, also the bowl.. I use paper plates and plastic forks when I eat outside. I love watching your cooking shows.
If my cardiologist told me that olive oil was bad for my heart, I'd get another -opinion- cardiologist. Is this the latest fad reversal? I reminds me of the constant "is coffee good/bad for you" argument that flip-flops every few years.
@@chezmoi42 - Several studies have shown that consumption of olive oil leads to constriction of arteries shortly following consumption. I refer you to the book titled "How to Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease" by Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn.
I make a dish similar to this but I use fresh green beans or asparagus sometimes both! I started it by throwing left over sautéed veggies into some pasta with olive oil, garlic, pepper and red pepper flakes. Became a huge hit
Idk if you read comments this late but I just made this for supper with some frozen broccoli, garlic powder and cheap ass extra virgin olive oil and it still turned out nice.
just made this this farfalle. i liked it. key is the garlic and oil. not a fan of steamed brocolli in general but the garlic and oil helped mask it. andi used a garlic press and i steamed the brocc in a microwave
Tip for cutting broccoli: When you are chopping the end of the crown into a few bits, cut 90% of the way through the floret, then pull apart. This stops a crapload of broccoli from getting shredded onto the board.
3:33 I like holding the spaghetti with both hands and twisting them before putting them in the water that way I feel like they almost slide into the pot themselves.
You can make a cream with roasted broccoli stems with pecorino and some olive , sauteed garlic and black pepper. That way you'll have a binding agent that brings all the flavours and textures together.
If you have a dog, give them the tough woody stem, they may not like it, but if they do it's a great little snack. Our pitbull loves chewing cruciferous vegetables.
Hey Adam - would love to support you and Graza but you said "$5 gift set," and I'm only seeing $5 off an order - there is no product for only $5. Am I missing something? Thanks for sharing the recipe!
@@counterfeit1148It could be on his part or on the sponsor - A lot of the time they specify what they want to be said during the ad read (look at how similar ads for RAID: Shadow Legends are, that's not because every content creator thinks up the same idea - They're reading from the same script given to them by the company).
If you didn't cut all the way through the little florettes of the broccoli (only cut the stam to before where the stam ends) you wont have the green bits that afterwards are just messy on the cutting board because you can just tear the rest apart
2:16 "steam is obviously much hotter than boiling water"... That's wrong, normal steam in a pot that contains water is the same temperature as boiling water 100C, only after there is no water steam can become hotter, but that does not apply to cooking
actually thats a good addition. someone said grill the brocoli, so now i think grill the brocoli add some sundried tomatoes and i'm leaving here with a great recipe!!!! ty
Just made this and it really was better than I expected from just these few ingredients. I might have still gone to easy on the black pepper though, but I'll surely make this again some time.
Those brocolli stems are delicious if you cut away the green outer skin. Thanks for the tip about heating the garlic in the warm pan, off-heat. Clever.
This format is really cool. Being outside to do the voice over is really good for audio quality (assuming there isn't much wind), and it also gives the vibe of sitting on the porch having a conversation with a very talkative friend. ALSO. I may be biased but I find it very funny to troll hardcore purists like Italians when it comes to food prep. Anybody who gets easily angered by other people's taste in food deserves to be angered and to never enjoy anything food related IMHO. Break all the spaghetti your heart desires!
