Orecchiette with broccoli, anchovy and cumin
Serves 4·Added 5 May 2026 by Tom Melhuish
MainSpring
Ingredients
| Fine sea salt and black pepper | ||
| 300g | g | dried orecchiette, or similar-sized pasta such as fusilli or conchigliette |
| 90ml | ml | olive oil |
| 3 | garlic cloves, peeled and crushed | |
| 6 | anchovy fillets, drained and finely chopped, or 2-3 tbsp white miso paste, or to taste | |
| Zest and juice of 1/2 lemon | ||
| 1 | tsp | ground cumin |
| 370g | g | jarred chickpeas, drained(there's no need to rinse them) |
| 1 | tsp | aleppo chilli powder |
| 200g | g | Tenderstem broccoli, or similar, cut on the diagonal into 2½cm lengths |
| 30g | g | parmesan, or vegetarian alternative, finely grated |
Method
1.Bring a large saucepan of salted water to a boil, add the pasta and set the timer to nine minutes.
2.While the pasta is cooking, make the sauce. Pour all the oil into a large saute pan and put it on a medium heat. Add the garlic, fry, stirring, for a minute, then stir in the anchovies, lemon zest and cumin, and cook for another couple of minutes. Add the chickpeas, chilli and a good grind of black pepper, mix well, then take off the heat.
3.When the timer sounds, drop the broccoli into the pasta pot and cook for three minutes. Reserve 100ml of the cooking water, then drain the pasta and broccoli, and add them to the chickpea pan. Scatter over 20g grated parmesan, return the pan to the heat and toss and stir vigorously for a minute, so the sauce emulsifies and coats the pasta.
4.Spoon into four shallow bowls, add a squeeze of lemon juice and a pinch more aleppo chilli, if you like, top with the remaining parmesan and serve.
Recipe Notes
AI · may be inaccurate
Substitutions
- broccolini → any other crunchy spring vegetables such as peas or asparagus (adaptability)
- anchovy → hard, parmesan-like vegetarian-friendly cheese (to make vegetarian)
- parmesan → vegetarian alternative (vegetarian diet)
Tips
To make it vegetarian, swap the anchovy for miso and use a hard, parmesan-like vegetarian-friendly cheese instead.
Comments
Sign in to leave a comment.