Romanesco Dynasty

"I'm wet and I'm cold, But thank God I ain't old" - lyrics from the song "Sea and Sand" which is one of the best of an excellent bunch on the Who's 1973 masterpiece Quadrophenia. They were lyrics I could well relate to on a wet mid-week evening in November with the weak daylight already gone and the heating turned up to eleven at my house.

With the prospect of another busy day before the weekend rolled around I needed something that was quick to make, spicy, filling and full of protein. Having been on the lookout for new ingredients and recipes for some time I stumbled across one for an Italian Winter Dish that uses Romanesco. My local fruit and veg shop sells these unusual vegetables, which are a hybrid of Cauliflower and Broccoli and so I was able to pick one up from there for this excellent seasonal recipe.

On the player was a live album, that was meant to be the last farewell from the Who, called Who's Last that documented their 1982 tour. I hadn't heard the record myself since Autumn 2001 when I was in my first semester as a fresher at York University and made new friends, tasted new alcohol and picked up a new type of Freshers' Flu.

I cut up the Romanesco into medium sized pieces and discarded the leaves and the core. I then steamed it for twenty-five minutes until it was soft enough to almost pick apart with a fork.

During the period the Romanesco was cooking I boiled some pasta shells and pasta twists for around fifteen minutes in a pan of boiling water.

The other key part of preparation was, in my Le Cresceut, lightly frying two cloves of Chopped Garlic, the juice of a Lemon, a diced Green Pepper with the core and seeds removed, three tablespoons each of Chilli Powder and Dried Parsley and two tablespoons of Pesto and Pine Nuts (thank you local farm shop) during the period that the Romanesco was steaming away. 

When the Pasta and Romanesco had been steamed and boiled respectively for the appropriate length of time I put them in the Le Cresceut with the other ingredients, warmed the food through and served it.

The Pasta gave this dish the protein to help give me extra energy for the last day of the working week. The pine nuts, lemon and other spices elevated the taste of the Romanesco from semi-bland and obscure winter vegetable to flavoursome pleasantness. This recipe is a great one to have as a lighter alternative to the numerous roast dinners and one pot recipes out there on the standard winter menus.

Green and Gold- pasta, spices and Romanesco are a winning combination.