Nonna’s Chilli Broccoli in Sugo

Although we suggest this dish is a great new way to have brunch with a Sicilian flare, we actually grew up having this for our lunch or light dinner when we were staying with our Nonna & Nonno Strazzanti. Sometimes, Nonna would make this dish with pieces of Italian sausage in place of the broccoli, which was speckled with Sicilian fennel seeds flavouring the sauce (sugo) subtly but perfectly. If you are vegan this dish can be made without the eggs and served with crusty warm bread instead.

Method

Take a large saucepan with a depth around 3 inches with a lid. Take the saucepan and add 3 generous tablespoons of cooking oil and add in the garlic cloves into the cold oil.

Tip* To prepare the garlic, simply crush with the back of a knife and remove the skin and the “germ” which is the green part of the garlic found in the centre as this can be very bitter.

Turn on the heat to a low flame and gently fry the garlic until lightly golden. Once the garlic is ready add in the tinned tomatoes, a pinch of salt, stirring well and leave to gently simmer with the lid on for 20 minutes.

Whilst the sugo cooks, prepare the broccoli by cutting off the ends and washing well. Bring a pan of water to the boil and season with a pinch of salt.

After 20 minutes once the sugo is cooked, crack in one by one the eggs next to each other in the pan and season with sea salt and black pepper. Recover with the lid and leave to simmer for a further 5 minutes

Tip* Add as many eggs as you like but depending on the size of your pan, we try not to cook more than 8 eggs at a time, we tend to have them hard boiled rather than soft but it’s your own preference.

At the same time the eggs are cooking, begin to cook the broccoli for 3-5 minutes until al dente in the boiling salted water, drain and keep warm to one side.

To serve, remove the cooked eggs from the saucepan and place onto some kitchen paper to drain off any excess liquid. On a plate or platter take the warm cooked broccoli and spoon over the sugo generously. Place the eggs on top and sprinkle with chopped fresh red chilli, grated parmesan if you like and a drizzle of Sicilian chilli infused olive oil.

Buon appetito!

Why not try another one of our delicious healthy recipes such as our Nonno’s Minestrone.

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