The Best Broccoli of Your Life

Frances loves broccoli. It is one of the few vegetables she'll eat on its own or as part of another dish (my poor hotdogatarian). I like raw broccoli but not so much the cooked stuff. Rob's hate for broccoli is second only to his hate for turnips. He went back for two more pieces after the one I forced on him and then I ate the rest of the pan. The entire pan in one sitting as my supper. This really is the best broccoli of your life. 

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Preheat the oven to 425.

Take 4 to 5 pounds of broccoli (two large bunches), cut into relatively big florets. Wash and dry thoroughly. Really thoroughly and then go back and dry them again. They need to be dry-dry. Put the broccoli on a cookie sheet. Toss with olive oil, salt and pepper (5 Tbs olive oil, 1 1/2 tsps kosher salt, 1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper). Toss in four garlic cloves of peeled and sliced garlic. 

Roast in the oven 20 to 25 minutes, until crisp-tender and the tips of some of the florets are browned.

When it’s done, take it out of the oven–and here’s where it gets really good–zest a lemon over the broccoli, squeeze the lemon juice over the broccoli, add 1.5 Tbs more olive oil, and 1/3 cup of freshly grated Parmesan cheese (mine wasn't freshly grated and everything still came out packed with delicious). The original recipe also suggests adding 3 Tbs toasted of pine nuts and 2 Tbs of julienned fresh basil. With or without these last two this recipe will make you want to make broccoli everyday. Probably for every meal. Or as every meal. Enjoy!

Original Recipe: here.