Seasonal Eating

December Recipes: Broccoli Pasta + Bitter Green Salad

December 3, 2024

Created by Thomas Hoy of Slow Food Philly

Zero-Waste Broccoli Pasta

Serves: 4
Preparation time: 30 minutes

Wait! Don’t throw away that broccoli stalk, please! It’s where all the flavor is! Truly, the sweetness of the plant is actually stored in the stalk. It’s basically the stock exchange of flavor in the vegetable. If you’re just eating the florets you’re wasting 25% of your purchase. Did I mention it was the most flavorful part too? The core of the broccoli does take a bit more time to cook than the florets but if cut to manageable dice or chunks it won’t make a difference. 

Ingredients

Preparation

  1. Bring a pot of water to boil for pasta.
  2. While the pot is boiling, start to process your broccoli. Break off florets and chop to mouth-manageable size pieces.
  3. Now, you should be left with the core and stalk of the broccoli. Yes? Perfect. It should be a cylinder-like shape. Slice in half lengthwise. Lay the half flat and chop into half moons or smaller if you want. 
  4. Drop rigatoni into boiling water. Cook for 8-12 minutes.
  5. Bring a large pan to medium-high heat and drizzle with oil. Toss in all of the broccoli and finely chopped garlic. Let cook for 6 minutes until tender. Add ⅛ cup of pasta water and jostle. Cook for 2-4 more minutes or until you get a fork tender broccoli
  6. Cut heat on both pasta and broccoli. Drain pasta, reserving another ⅛ cup of pasta water.
  7. Add pasta to the large pan with the broccoli. While stirring sprinkle in pecorino cheese and a juice of ½ lemon. As you aggressively stir, drizzle in pasta water. The sauce should start coming together now and should progressively get creamier. Continue until a semi-thick sauce has formed. Salt and pepper to taste.
  8. Serve in a bowl and enjoy with a loved one.

Bitter Green Salad

Serves: 4
Prep time: 15 minutes

Look, salads should never outshine your main. Although, they should be consistent and non-fussy. All salads should have four things. That being a green, fat/oil, acid, and texture. I’m using peak November bitter greens to check off the green category, olive oil for fat, apple cider vinegar for acid, turnips for alternating texture, and some honey because it helps relieve the palate with some sweetness.

These vegetables are basically stocking themselves at your farmers market, in your CSA, or local co-op. That being said with this baseline four point formula you should be set for just about any obscure vegetable that comes your way. Kohlrabi? No problem. Komatsuna? Easy peasy. No olive oil? Soy sauce. Forgot lemons? Vinegar works great. Just, to prove how easy this formula is. The night before work I make my dressing in a Bonne Maman jar and pack it away for lunch the following day. Now, I happen to be a farmer so whatever I am tasked with harvesting that day is what I’m having for lunch. If it’s romaine, I chop that up at lunch. Drizzle my dressing over top and boom a satiated farmer. 

Ingredients

Preparation

  1. Pluck all layers of radicchio from the head, chop or rip into fork-manageable size pieces. Place in salad bowl
  2. Roll up dandelion greens and chop to medium fork-manageable size. Place in salad bowl
  3. Thinly slice or mandolin hakurei turnips into half moons. Place in a salad bowl. 
  4. Add olive oil first. Give a good toss so all greens are coated.
  5. Add apple cider vinegar. Give another toss so everything is evenly coated. 
  6. Give a quick drizzle of honey over the greens to break up the punchy bitterness and acid.
  7. Serve and enjoy with loved ones.

About the Chef

Thomas Hoy (he/him) started out as a cook at Bar Lucca in Conshohocken on his breaks during college. He was introduced to Slow Food on a trip to Italy, where he was captivated by the regional food culture and uncompromising appreciation for local food-ways. 

After acquiring an affection for farm-to-table dining he has since transitioned to a liaison role for Pieri Hospitality at their farm in Bucks County, Pieri Farm & Vineyard. He brings his kitchen acumen to growing & harvesting and sees the farm-to-table connection as an open collaboration between chef & farmer. He is also their assistant winemaker. 

Thomas maximizes the full potential of fruits and vegetables in their life cycle from seed to stomach in several ways, from minimizing waste, growing for robust flavor, building soil, and connecting to local communities. He is inspired by his two older brothers, parents, professors, and many other loved ones in his life.