Region: Italy
Category: Pasta with Vegetables
Season: Any
Difficulty: Easy and Quick
This dish can be made with all the collected broken and mixed pieces of macaroni from various boxes and packages--in any case, that's why I save them. 
This dish was inspired when my kids were little and would only eat vegetables if it was cooked with pasta. And they ate a lot of it. Plus there are always bunches of leftover broken macaroni that after awhile can be turned into a nice meal.
[photo: Food & Wine, November 2001]
Yield: Makes 4 servings
Preparation Time: 20 minutes
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 large garlic cloves, very finely chopped or mashed
4 salted anchovy fillets, rinsed
1/2 cup crushed walnuts
1 pound broccoli, stalks sliced and florets broken up
3/4 pound macaroni pieces or elbow macaroni
Freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1. In a small skillet, heat the olive oil, garlic, anchovies, and walnuts over medium heat until the anchovies melt, about 3 minutes. Set aside.
2. Meanwhile, for every pound of pasta, bring 6 quarts of water to a rolling boil over high heat, salt abundantly with up to 1/2 cup of salt, then add the pasta in handfuls and the broccoli stems. After 5 minutes add the broccoli florets. Cook over high heat, stirring occasionally so the pasta doesn’t stick together, until al dente. Drain without rinsing. Transfer the pasta to a serving bowl or platter and toss with the walnut sauce and serve with parmigiano cheese.
Variation:
Note:
Posted: 12/23/2006