BROCCOLI, ANCHOVY, CHICKPEA PASTA

the perfect speedy midweek dinner

It occurred to me yesterday that it had been a whole year since I posted a video about making dinner for the warehouse, that went viral, and then changed my life overnight. It’s strange to think how much and how little can change in a year and it’s got me reflecting. I’ve had lots of questions about exactly what has changed, whether we still live communally in the warehouse (we do), whether it’s all one big elaborate stunt for social media (it’s not) or if we all actually hate each other (lol - we don’t).

In next week’s newsletter, I will share some of my experience; what exactly happened, how things changed, and how I feel about it all now. I owe a lot (if not nearly all!) my substack subscribers to the following I built, in a relatively very short period of time, and so for that, I thank you. I’d like to answer any questions you might have, so DM me, email me, or comment below and I will endeavour to cover them all. Whether you are interested in a career in food writing, cooking, supper club hosting, or you just want to know about the specific brand of trolling I experience, let me know.

Now onto this week’s recipe - a time saver and a body nourisher, I really love this one. I have had a manic July, along with my housemate Virginia and dear friend Stacey, we have catered a wedding, hosted two supper clubs and for the last two weeks been on a mammoth project that I can’t quite talk about yet, but that I am SO so unbelievably excited to announce. Busy times like these, call for a recipe that will fuel, but also be on the table in a snap, made up of mostly pantry essentials. If you are short on time this week, but you’d still like to cook up a feast for dinner, I hope this pasta serves you as well as it did me.

Stay hydrated.

Sending love, Rosie x

BROCCOLI, ANCHOVY, CHICKPEA PASTA

I’m honestly so into this pasta, it’s an all rounder, with protein from the chickpeas, fibre and a vibrant colour from the broccoli, a salty hit from the anchovies and a perfect crunch from the pangrattato. It was such a crowd pleaser in the warehouse and really helped me out this week when I had very little time to cook, but wanted something delicious and nutritious to feed the house. If you are veggie, you can skip the anchovies and add 1 tbsp of white miso instead, but I really do think the anchovies are magical here, so if you eat fish, give it a go for me.

For the pasta:

2 x heads of broccoli, florets and stalks separated

3 tbsp olive oil

3 x cloves of garlic

1 x tin of anchovies, drained

1 tsp chilli flakes

1 x 400g can of chickpeas

500g conchigliette

50g parmesan, finely grated

For the pangrattato:

2 tbsp olive oil

100g panko or fresh breadcrumbs breadcrumbs

a small bunch of parsley, finely chopped

a pinch of flaky salt

1. Bring a large pan of salted water to a rolling boil.

2. Roughly chop the broccoli stalks.

3. Boil the chopped stalks in the salted water for 8-10 minutes, or until a knife easily passes through them and they are beginning to fall apart.

4. Scoop the broccoli stalks out of the water, rather than draining, we are going to use it to cook the rest of the broccoli and the pasta !

5. In a large frying pan, over a medium high heat, add the olive oil, garlic and then the anchovies. Cook down for around 5 minutes, until the anchovies are broken down and the garlic is starting to colour.

6. Add the chilli flakes, followed by the cooked broccoli stalks and give it a good stir. Using a potato masher or the back of a wooden spoon, break up the broccoli stalks into more of a mash.

7. Add the drained chickpeas to the frying pan and give everything a good stir. Turn the heat down to medium while you cook the pasta.

8. Add the pasta and the broccoli florets to the salted water, bring it back to the boil and cook for 8-10 minutes, or until the pasta is al dente.

9. Meanwhile, in another shallow frying pan, make the pangrattato by heating the olive oil over a medium high heat, add the breadcrumbs and stir until an even golden brown, turn the heat off and add the parsley and salt, stirring again until well combined.

10. When the pasta is perfectly cooked, drain and add to the large frying pan with all the broccoli, anchovy, chickpea goodness. Sprinkle the parmesan in and then toss until all the cheese is melted and the everything is glossy and sexy. Taste the pasta and see if you need to adjust the seasoning, the anchovies will be bringing a good level of salt, but you may need to add a pinch more and a grind of black pepper.

11. Pile up the pasta on a plate and top with the pangrattato, a little more parmesan or perhaps a pinch of chilli flakes.

buon appetito x