Thursday 16 March 2017

A recipe for Purple Sprouting Broccoli

At this time of year the Purple Sprouting Broccoli is at its best, and in our household we try to find lots of ways to use it. Here's a dish that I recently invented...


Stir-fried PSB with Butternut Squash

I made this dish to complement a chicken risotto, so let's show you that first... Nothing special, just a conventional chicken risotto. I think you'll agree that is looks a bit "monochrome".


When I have finished cooking a risotto, I like to leave it to stand for 10 - 15 minutes to let the rice plump up a bit. This gives a "window of opportunity" in which to cook a side dish of some sort, which is where my PSB comes in.

A bit of advance preparation is advisable:


You can see there half a Butternut Squash, halved, peeled and diced; a sliced red chilli; about 10 Walnut halves; and a slack handful of PSB, washed and cut into small florets. Here's a closer view of the PSB:


I doused the Walnuts in Pumpkin Seed oil and toasted them in a hot oven for 10 minutes or so, which really brings out their flavour.


I also pre-cooked the Butternut Squash, roasting it with a splash of oil in a hot oven (200C) to achieve a bit of charring at the edges. I think this looks attractive as well as enhancing the flavour. It took about 25 minutes. When it was done, I set it aside until needed.


When the risotto started its 10 minutes standing-time, I whacked the heat up high on one of my gas rings, and heated some vegetable oil in a wok. Then, in went the PSB, shortly followed by the squash, the chilli and the walnuts. I turned the veg frequently with two wooden spatulas, adding a couple of splashes of water to create steam to help the broccoli cook. [Note: I think if I did this dish again I would parboil the PSB in advance, because I had to stir-fry it for longer than I had initially intended in order to soften the stems.] Just before serving, I added a generous splash of Balsamic vinegar to sharpen-up the flavours.


Here's the finished dish, served alongside the chicken risotto.


I've not illustrated it here, but the final element of our meal was some toasted home-made bread, with garlic butter - Yum!

I felt this was a good meal - nutritious, well-balanced, tasty and a good mix of colours, textures and flavours.

P.S. Might need some more recipes soon...


5 comments:

  1. This looked like a really good combination. I actually saw some purple sprouting broccoli in one of the stores here....I will just have to try to remember which one. I would have to use pecans though as Phil never has like walnuts. I have never used nuts in anything except bread or cookies though so I am interested to see how well we like them cooked with vegetables. And do keep posting these recipes as you find them!

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  2. It does, indeed, look very pretty. I'm interested in the roasted squash. I've never done this myself and when served it by others have found it too oily. Perhaps the answer is in the 'splash' rather than in dousing!

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  3. You have just gave me an idea what to make of my last 'Hokkaido' pumpkin. Sound delicious. Thanks. I am writing down the recipe.

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  4. That looks gorgeous. I never would have thought of adding toasted walnuts but I can see how that really works with the squash.

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  5. Looks so yummy and healthy too...

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