Hat-tip to my long-suffering husband for this recipe. He is a teacher, which means at some point in June, he steps up his cooking game. Recently after a particularly long day, I came home to this roasted broccoli dish, and it is an A-plus, head-of-the-class hit.
We love broccoli in our house, but we usually just steam, then and throw a little salt at it. This roasted version covered with sweet-tart lemon, crunchy toasted pine nuts and salty Parmesan is perfection in a bowl. I wouldn’t go so far as to say we eat it like potato chips, but there is never any left, no matter how much broccoli we roast. After a dinner based around this dish, there’s little guilt in chasing down the ice cream truck.
Roasted Broccoli
4 to 6 servings
Adapted from a recipe by Ina Garten
¼ cups pine nuts
3 to 4 lbs. broccoli florets (about 5 crowns)
¼ cup plus 2 Tbsp. olive oil, divided
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
½ tsp. freshly ground black pepper
½ tsp. kosher salt
1 lemon
3 to 4 Tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
• In a small dry skillet over medium heat, toast the pint nuts 2 to 3 minutes, tossing occasionally, until just fragrant. Remove from heat and let cool.
• Toss the florets in a large mixing bowl with ¼ cup olive oil, garlic, ½ teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon black pepper and stir to coat. Spread the broccoli on the sheet pan in an even layer and roast 20 minutes.
• Meanwhile, remove 2 teaspoons lemon zest and place in a serving bowl. Slice the lemon and add 2 tablespoons lemon juice. Whisk in 2 tablespoons olive oil.
• Add the roasted broccoli into the bowl with the lemon and toss to coast. Add the Parmesan and pine nuts and toss to combine. Serve warm or at room temperature.
This article appears in Readers’ Choice 2016.