Hi °C | Lo °C Some calabrese plants that I planted in the polytunnel last autumn are still producing occasional shoots. They are not the big heads of broccoli that you buy in the supermarket, but they are plugging a gap while we wait for the purple spouting broccoli outside to come into season. Putting them into a salad makes the best use of a sparse ingredient.
This is a Gino D'Acampo recipe, but confess that I didn't have the 400g of broccoli required, nor did I have any mint! No matter. If you don't like pine nuts, you can use crushed walnuts instead.
Ingredients
200-400g broccoli
1 garlic clove
6 fresh mint leaves
60ml extra virgin olive oil
30ml balsamic vinegar
100g goat's cheese
45ml pine nuts, toasted
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Directions
• Wash and trim the broccoli. n Cook in a saucepan with salted boiling water for just a few minutes until tender. n Drain and then rinse in cold water.
• Finely chop the garlic and the mint together and put in a large bowl. n Pour in the oil and the balsamic vinegar and mix.
• Add the broccoli and mix again. Season well and toss.
• Crumble over the goat's cheese and nuts.
Irish Independent
