Eight ingredients, plus pantry staples. That’s all it takes to make an entire meal from scratch. Add in a good bottle of wine for less than $20, and you’ve got a feast for family or friends.
My mom’s broccoli pasta was a staple in my family growing up. As with most of her “recipes,” she never measured ingredients and often riffed on the formula based on the contents of our fridge—which makes her dishes a bit challenging to recreate. So while that pasta is the inspiration for this one, it’s more of an abstract inspiration, using the few constants: Garlic, broccoli and sun-dried tomatoes, sautéed together and deglazed with white wine. That became the foundation of her cheesy sauce, spiked with generous grinds of black pepper. Sometimes she would add creamy ingredients like ricotta or yogurt, but my rendition here is a lighter take, more focused on pantry staples.
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These days I enjoy it with white wines with a bit of body and roundness to them, like a recent pairing of Arnaldo Caprai Grechetto Colli Martani Grecante from Italy’s Umbria region. I found the 2018 vintage at a local shop, priced at just $16. Its floral qualities really sang after a bite of the bright-and-sweet sun-dried tomatoes, while the wine’s body and acidity helped it stand up to their bold flavor without overshadowing the shallot and broccoli.
