Serve this flavour packed side dish with our Slow Cooker Spaghetti Bolognese for an effortless and delicious dinner. I’ve been asking many of you what you would like to see on Vikalinka next and, to my surprise and delight, vegetable dishes came on top. We all realise how important to have those five servings a day but unfortunately we often forget. Then we throw peas or beans or whatever we’ve got in a steamer and the job is done! Only we all know too well that it’s not done. Because the family is not convinced. Steamed vegetables could be nice but most often they are just plain BORING!
Oven Roasted Broccoli
I’ve long discovered that my family prefers vegetables roasted over steamed or boiled. Roasting is so easy and allows for the flavour of the veg to concentrate more than steaming does. This is why I roast a whole range of veg, from cabbage to carrots and much more. This broccoli recipe along with a jar of homemade sun-dried tomatoes was given to me by an older Sicilian woman on one of our trips to Italy. She was a friend of a friend and very generous. We were at a dinner together and I kept bringing up sun-dried tomatoes on the table, that were ten times redder than the ones in the picture above. So before I left she pressed a jar of the remaining sun-dried tomatoes in my hands. Then she quickly told me that her favourite way of eating them was with cooked broccoli, garlic and chillies. I had to try it out at home since no actual measurements were given because that is not how old Sicilian women cook! So what I am sharing today is my interpretation of the recipe.
The Recipe
One main thing that I changed in her recipe is I roasted broccoli instead of boiling it. I feel like roasting added another layer of flavour to this already incredibly complex dish. There are THREE cloves of garlic in the recipe but because they are sliced and not minced, the flavour is much more mild! And because it is the recipe given to me by a Sicilian, there are chillies involved. I’ve started with half a teaspoon of dried chilli flakes but feel free adjust it to your own taste. Lastly, I first tried this recipe the best quality sun-dried tomatoes possible. They were absolutely divine. To this day I’ve not been able to find their equal here in the UK. However, I try my best and buy the best I can find. I recommend you do the same. It’s only one little jar that goes a long way!! My kids are already big fans of vegetables but this roasted parmesan broccoli is usually more popular than a main dish whenever I make it. And if you find yourself loving it as much as we do, you can turn this side dish into a main. Take a look at this pasta dish I made a while back! Simple and extremely quick but not plain!
More Favourite Vegetable Recipes
Butternut Squash Gratin Crispy Brussels Sprouts with Honey and Bacon Winter Salad with Red Cabbage, Kale and Pomegranate Braised Savoy Cabbage with Mushrooms and Bacon
