I am back

With pasta, beans & broccoli (big surprise).

40 Ingredients Forever is here again. Thank you for your patience as I got a hold on other commitments and also soaked up some summer.

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Good questions that I’ve also been asking. In uncertain times, my anxious brain and belly seek anything steadying and sure, two important themes of this newsletter: Every week, 40 Ingredients Forever features sure-thing dinners made from a steady group of 40 ingredients. That doesn’t mean the recipes are boring, though. Limitations are the savior of creativity, or however that saying goes.

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Now to this week’s recipe: pasta, beans, and broccoli. 

We spent my birthday this summer nuzzled by trees in 🍞North Sandwich🍞, New Hampshire, and made up this pasta one night. (Highly recommend this campsite for the hundreds of acres of preserved land and also the wood-burning sauna.)  

Preferred birthday cake

Pasta is not the easiest thing to make camping because of the whole straining hot water aspect, so typically we cook the pasta in the sauce. You know, a one-pot pasta.

In this one, the starchiness from the beans and the pasta give the liquid a bounce and gloss, the broccoli slumps and sweetens, there’s an underlying prick from garlic and red pepper flakes, and the lemon sunshines on it all. 

It’s spoon after spoon of soft and cozy, good for eating by a wood fire or on the couch. Or at the dinner table if you insist on civility. 

Pasta, beans & broccoli

Serves 4

• 4 garlic cloves

• 1 medium head broccoli (about 8 ounces)

• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

• Red pepper flakes

• 4 cups chicken broth 

• 1 (15-ounce) can white beans

• 1 ½ cups small pasta (like ditalini, small pasta shells, or orzo)

• Salt

• 1 lemon

1. Peel and thinly slice 4 garlic cloves and transfer to a Dutch oven. Coarsely chop the stems and florets of 1 medium head broccoli (about 8 ounces). 

2. To the Dutch oven, add 3 tablespoons olive oil and a pinch of red pepper flakes and set over medium heat. Cook, stirring, until the garlic is sticky and barely golden at the edges, 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in 4 cups chicken broth, 1 (15-ounce) can white beans including their liquid, 1 ½ cups small pasta, the chopped broccoli and any bits on the cutting board, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until the pasta is al dente according to the package instructions.

3. Remove the pot from heat. Stir in the juice of 1 lemon. Serve topped with a pinch of red pepper flakes and a drizzle of olive oil. 

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Pasta, Beans & Broccoli Ali Slagle's 40 Ingredients Forever

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FAMILY TREE

(Who this recipe is related to)

• One-Pot Broccoli Mac & Cheese

• Lukas Volger
  ’s One-Pot Pasta & Beans with Asparagus

• Clare de Boer
  ’s Soupy Summer Orzo

SWAPS

• Garlic: This builds the foundation of the stew/pasta/whatever this is. You could instead use some Italian seasoning, a sprig of sage or thyme, and/or an allium like thinly sliced scallions or finely chopped yellow onion.

• Broccoli: You could use any vegetable that cooks in about 10 minutes, such as cauliflower or cubed zucchini or winter squash. Or add a quick-cooking vegetable at the end with the lemon, like thinly sliced asparagus, snap peas, broccolini, or peas. 

• Olive oil: Butter!

• Red pepper flakes: black pepper, a fresh red chile, a dab of Calabrian chile paste, or skip it.

• Chicken broth: I really tried to make this work with salted water, but you need the fortification of broth for this to be supremely cozy. Use bouillon or a broth you like; Parmesan broth would be magical. 

• White beans: You could skip this or add cooked green or brown lentils with the lemon juice. 

• Lemon: Add brightness instead with feta or torn basil or mint.

THINGS TO ADD

• Make it creamy by adding some creme fraiche, yogurt, or heavy cream at the end. Or topping bowls with a poached egg.

• Add more savoriness by adding capers, olives, or anchovies with the garlic. 

• Throw in some leftover chicken, why not? 

Recipe testing by Theo Kaloudis