This story is part of On Repeat, a series in which we ask top chefs, cookbook authors, and other famous foodies about the dishes they just can’t quit.
Who better than Sara Moulton to cook up our latest edition of On Repeat? As a cookbook author, former executive chef of the dearly departed Gourmet magazine, and longtime host of PBS’s Sara’s Weeknight Meals, she’s an expert at dishes that earn the status of family crowd-pleaser. One of her favorites happens to be plant-based: Crispy Broccoli with Capellini in Broth.
Why broccoli? Because when she was pregnant with her first kid she read Dr. Spock—who penned the bestselling bible of child rearing back in the day—and he said that the verdant veg was exceptionally good for both mama and babe. “I just thought, if I eat broccoli five times a day I don’t have to eat anything else,” she says and laughs. For this weeknight pasta recipe, which calls for “a shit-ton of broccoli,” she cuts the veg into small florets and browns them in a very hot skillet in olive oil. To that she adds chile flakes, some broth or pasta water, and tons of parm.
Why I love it
“I just love crispy broccoli. It’s very healthy, and even though you’re throwing liquid on top of it, the broccoli is browned and crispy. It’s also economical (and low-waste) because you can and should use the broccoli stems. You just need to trim and peel them, and cut them into chunks that are roughly the same size as the florets, because there’s lots of yummy flavor in the stems.”
What I’ve changed
“Sometimes I add garlic. And if I’m being fancy, I buy some cheese ravioli or portobello ravioli from the store and use that instead of angel hair. To make it vegetarian, you would just use vegetable stock, or you could use pasta water—just as long as you used enough garlic and parmesan for flavor.
“Sometimes I roast the broccoli in the oven: I measure the olive oil, add the salt, toss it really well with the broccoli, and put it in the top third of the oven at 425 degrees. I find that I can use less oil that way. I love roasting vegetables—you’re evaporating some of the water that’s in them, so you concentrate the flavor and the vegetable tastes more like itself.”
What else I’m into right now
The deep freeze. The freezer is the best. My husband and I absolutely love leftovers because you can repurpose them into all sorts of meals: pasta dishes, soups, and frittatas. So you accumulate your leftovers, and if you don’t get to them right away, just throw them in the freezer.
Veggie cookbook. I have about 1,500 cookbooks, and I’m going through them to decide what I want to give away and which ones I want to keep. I came across a book that really struck me many years ago, Tender: A Cook and His Vegetable Patch, written by Nigel Slater. It’s just charming, and I’m keeping it.
Veggie restaurant. Dirt Candy, and its chef, Amanda Cohen. I’m a big fan of hers. She was the first vegetarian chef to compete on Iron Chef: America, and her restaurant on New York’s Lower East Side has a regular Michelin star and a green one—something Michelin gives restaurants that stand out for their sustainable practices.