Orecchiette with broccoli anchovies and sun-dried tomatoes - Italian recipe

If you are an orecchiette lover, this is the ultimate dish for you: orecchiette with broccoli, anchovies and sun-dried tomatoes! Find this and many more recipes with pictures on the Giallozafferano App (in English)
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Start by making the dough for the orecchiette: sift the flour into a bowl, to remove any impurities. I’m using finely ground semolina flour, very common in South Italy. Add the extra virgin olive oil and the water; a little at a time, not all at once, because the dough should be quite firm. The amount of water varies depending on the type of flour. When the dough has come together, transfer to a work surface and knead until nice and smooth. Once smooth, place the dough in a bowl, cover with a cloth, or cling film if you prefer, and allow to rest at room temperature for at least half an hour.
Move on to the anchovies, here’s how to clean them: remove the head with your fingers and pull out the intestines; then split it open from head to tail, in this way, remove the backbone, and the tailt. In this way, you end up with 2 fillets. Rinse gently with water, being careful not to break them, and place on kitchen paper to drain. Repeat with all the other anchovies: pull out the intestines, split it open and remove the backbone. If you want to bread and fry them, butterfly the anchovies like this and leave the tail on for practical and decorative purposes.
Get back to the orecchiette: take the dough and roll into thin logs, then cut the logs into ½-inch (1 cm) pieces. Take a piece of dough, a knife, press and pull the dough towards you, then turn it inside out over your thumb… here it is.
I have all the ingredients I need for the sauce: start with the broccoli, separate the florets from the stalk and cut into pieces, this size more or less. You can also use the main stalk, as long as you remove the tough outer layer, then cut into pieces. Cut the anchovies into pieces as well, not too small. Chop the sun-dried tomatoes: you can find sun-dried tomatoes in oil, like mine, that should be patted dry before using, or plain sun-dried tomatoes, not in oil, that should be soaked in lukewarm water until softened. And finally, thyme, chili pepper and garlic: strip the leaves from the thyme sprigs: remove the stem from the chili pepper and the inner seeds; cut the garlic in half, roughly chop it, then finely chop all the seasonings. All that’s left to do is process the bread into fine crumbs and start cooking. Firstly, heat the oil in a pan, add half of the chopped garlic, chili pepper and thyme… then add the breadcrumbs and stir until crispy and just light golden brown. Turn off the heat and take them out of the pan, or they will burn from the residual heat.
Bring the water to a boil, salt to taste, drop in the broccoli and allow a couple of minutes from the time the water returns to a boil, they should remain crispy; make sure the water is not at a full boil, or the broccoli will fall apart. In a large saucepan, or pan in this case, heat a little oil and add the remaining chopped seasoning mix, sauté the anchovies and the tomatoes just until they change colour, meanwhile boil the orecchiette with the broccoli. All right, turn off the heat here and wait for the pasta to cook. It’s done, now drain and add to the saucepan. Cook until the liquid evaporates and finally sprinkle with the toasted breadcrumbs and the parsley. And while I’m plating up, let’s see together the ingredients needed for this recipe!
Ingredients
For 4 servings
For the orecchiette
- 2 cups (250 g) of finely ground semolina
- ⅔ cup (150 ml) of water
- ½ tbsp (8 g) of extra virgin olive oil
For the sauce
- ⅔ lb (300 g) of anchovies
- ⅔ lb (300 g) of broccoli
- 2 oz (60 g) of sun-dried tomatoes in oil
- 1 clove of garlic
- 1 chili pepper
- a few thyme sprigs
- 1 sprig of parsley
- a little extra virgin olive oil
- 1 pinch of salt
- pepper to taste
For the breadcrumbs
- ⅓ lb (150 g) of durum wheat bread
- a little extra virgin olive oil