Broccoli recipes

This is a southern Italian classic that knows exactly what it is — simple, bold, and completely satisfying. The trick is cooking the broccoli directly in the pasta water so it breaks down into a rough sauce that coats every piece of pasta. Generous olive oil, dried chilli, and anchovy paste (optional, but do it) bring everything together in under 30 minutes.

This is a broccoli salad that earns the name — generous blanched-then-charred broccoli tossed with crispy smoked bacon lardons, crunchy golden sourdough crumbs and a punchy wholegrain mustard and cider vinegar dressing. It works as a substantial lunch or as a side dish bold enough to steal the show at the table. Everything is warm when it hits the plate, which is exactly how it should be.

Roasting the broccoli before blending is the move that transforms this from a school-dinner staple into something genuinely craveable. The florets catch at the edges in the oven, developing a nutty depth that no amount of boiling can replicate. Finished with sharp mature Cheddar and a swirl of cream, this is a bowlful worth making on a cold October evening.

A quick, punchy side dish that takes ten minutes from fridge to table and works alongside almost anything Asian-inspired. The broccoli is stir-fried until it blisters at the edges and stays pleasantly firm, then hit with a sharp, salty dressing that soaks in while everything is still hot. This is the kind of side that regularly steals the show.