garlicky one-pot broccoli pasta + hi!

plus a cheesy broccoli rice recipe, too!

Hello + welcome to the first Cooking from a Fahr newsletter! I have been living on Menorca, a small island off the coast of mainland Spain, for the past month (and loving every minute of it!), working remotely while wrapping up my next cookbook and developing some new recipes. I realized that I'd been making this garlicky broccoli pasta for myself on repeat, and the urge to share it finally gave me the nudge I needed to launch this thing.

I know I’m supposed to tell you what you’ll find in this newsletter, but, to be honest, I’m not sure. It’s likely that there will be easy recipes that you can make anywhere, say in rental homes like me at the moment, some travel recommendations for Menorca, Bilbao and other place I’ve visited during this trip and whatever else happens to inspire me that I think you’d enjoy. There might be many, there might be a few, and only time will tell. That’s why it’s currently free as I’m not ready to commit to a weekly or bi-weekly newsletter, so I don’t want you to ask you to either. I appreciate you being here for this little experiment, and I think we’ll have some fun, no matter what!

Here, you’ll also find a bonus recipe for cheesy broccoli rice that uses the same one-pot, broccoli cooking method, which my friend Sachié sent me in the form of this video (not sure where the original one is, please let me know if you do!). I found this method to be quite genius, and immediately started using it for lazy nights or whenever I didn’t want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen. 

The broccoli becomes super soft, almost mushy in a good way, so it’s like you pureed it, but really, you did very little and there’s minimal prep work as you don’t have to trim the stalk or anything ahead of time. (Like this below. Yes, there’s rice in the photo but you scrape everything in the pot, so it’s all good.)

And that’s it! I’m going to keep it short and simple for now as you’ll find the recipe itself has lots of little notes and thoughts. Truthfully, I make this pasta recipe for one, eyeballing the amount of cheese and liquid until it looks and tastes right, so you can definitely ignore the amounts and go rogue with this. I’ve also stirred in a little brossat—a soft cheese made here in Menorca, but you could easily add ricotta—at the end for some extra creaminess and tossed in some leftover chickpeas, too. All of this is to say, have fun with it and make it your own! It’s forgiving and friendly. Enjoy! Xx 

Garlicky one-pot broccoli pasta

Do the prep work, such as cutting the scallions/garlic and grating the cheese, while the pasta is cooking as you’ll need to use that cutting board for the broccoli once it’s done cooking. You’ll have down time while the water is coming to a boil and the pasta and broccoli are cooking, so why not use it wisely?! (Having a glass of wine is also a wonderful use of this time.)

Serves 4

• Salt (use whatever you like, I cook with sea salt)

• 1 pound pasta shells (these just feel fun) or other short noodles

• 1 large head broccoli or 2 small ones, about 1 ½ to 1 ¾ pounds 

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• 2 to 3 scallions or spring onions, white and light green parts thinly sliced

• 2 large garlic cloves or 3 to 4 small ones, thinly sliced (grate or mince for a stronger garlic flavor)

• ¾ cup freshly grated parmesan (no packaged cheese, please! It will get clumpy)

• Red-pepper flakes, for garnish (optional)

1. Bring a large wide pot of well-salted water to a boil (it should be able to fit your broccoli stalks so that some of the stalk by the florets is also submerged so think about this as you’re choosing your pot and filling it with water—a Dutch oven would be good, too). Add the pasta to the pot and place the broccoli crown-side down so the stalk is sticking up out of the pan. Cook until the noodles are just al dente and the broccoli a vibrant green color, 8 to 10 minutes for the broccoli (if your noodles take longer to cook, then adjust your cooking time, but I wouldn’t worry too much about this as your broccoli will just get softer). Reserve 1 cup water. 

2. Meanwhile, cut the scallions, garlic and grate the cheese. Drain the pasta and broccoli in the sink. Wipe out the pot and return to the stove over medium heat. Add oil, scallions and garlic, season lightly with salt, and cooking, stirring occasionally until softened, about 2 minutes. (If cutting the broccoli while this cooks stresses you out, then cut the broccoli first and then proceed with the scallion + garlic cooking.)

3. Use a clean dish towel to grab the broccoli stalks, shake off excess water and transfer to a cutting board. Start cutting the broccoli from the floret tips to the stalk (they will instantly fall off) until you reach a firm resistance. Some tender but slightly firm pieces are okay to give some texture. Transfer the pasta, broccoli, ½ cup of the pasta water and the cheese to the pot, stirring to combine until it looks saucy, with a tiny pool of green speckled liquid at the bottom. If it looks dry, then you can add a splash of pasta water. Season to taste with salt and finish with some red-pepper flakes, if desired. Enjoy! 

[Edit: in the original newsletter, I forgot to include the olive oil in the directions, sorry about that!]

Cheesy one-pot broccoli rice:

There are two photos that are similar because I did not take the right sized photo (I think?). I'm still figuring this out!

In this recipe, the cooks rice like pasta, something I first read about in the cookbook Rice is Life, and I have no idea why I haven’t done it sooner. Serve this as a side with broiled shrimp, broiled salmon or sliced steak or just with a salad. I ate it for lunch on its own, and it was lovely. Though some pickled jalapenos might be nice too. 

Some thoughts on leftovers: Yes, you can easily microwave it or reheat in a pot (with a splash of water), and eat as you would, which I did and loved. BUT you can also put it on a sheet pan with some more cheddar, either in your toaster oven or oven, so the cheese really melts, mixing it all up together and letting any cheese that hits that pan itself become crispy and frico-like. I also added chopped up scallions to the toaster-oven version. 

Serves 4-ish

• 1 ½ cups basmati rice, rinsed

• Salt (use whatever you like, I cook with sea salt)

• 1 large head broccoli or 2 small ones, about 1 ½ to 1 ¾ pounds 

• 2 cups freshly grated white cheddar (about 7 ounces), no packaged cheese please! 

• Olive oil

• 1 lemon or lime, halved (optional)

1. In a large saucepan wide enough to fit the broccoli, combine the rice, 6 cups water and 1 teaspoon salt and bring to a boil. Add the broccoli, crown-side down submerged in the water so the stalk is sticking up, and adjust the heat to maintain an active simmer, with small bubbles forming around the broccoli. Cook until the rice is tender (taste and see), about 8 minutes more, and the broccoli tips are a vibrant green when lifted up and soft (the stalks might still feel hard and that’s fine). 

2. Use a clean dish towel to grab the broccoli, shaking off excess water and rice and transfer to a cutting board. Drain the rice in a colander in the sink. Starting at the top of the florets, cut towards the stalk so that the broccoli falls apart into small, bite-size pieces and little crumbs, until you hit the hard part of the stalk. Return the rice and broccoli to the same pot without wiping it out.

3. Off heat, stir in the cheese and drizzle with a few rounds of olive oil (about 2 tablespoons), mixing until the cheese is melted. Cover and let sit for 5 minutes. Season as needed with salt, more cheese or olive oil until it tastes delicious to you. (A squeeze of lemon or lime could be nice, too.)

~ I hope you’ve enjoyed these both!! Thank you for reading and talk to you soon! xx

Here are some BTS photos of me from my first cookbook, Keeping it Simple, shot by the lovely Patsy Niven, because I love them so much and hope you all have as much fun eating your food as I am in this photo! Okay now I’m done. Bye!