Pasta with Roasted Broccoli and Garlic Sauce

YUM! This recipe was declared imminently blogworthy by Seth shortly before he asked if there was more in the pot. The sauce is light and flavorful. It is a filling main or an impressive side. If you like lots of broccoli, you can peel and chop the stems for roasting as well. Make the whole amount and eat the leftovers for lunch.

Ingredients:
2 heads of garlic, top quarter o heads cut off and discarded
6 Tbs + 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil, divided
2 lbs of broccoli, florets halved or quartered
salt and pepper
1/4 tsp sugar
1 lb pasta (fusilli, orecchiette or another short shaped pasta will grab sauce well)
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
2-3 Tbs lemon juice (ie juice of one fresh lemon)
1 Tbs fresh chopped parsley
2 oz or 1 cup shredded Manchego cheese (or comparable or more affordable sheep's milk cheese)
1/4 cup toasted slivered or sliced almonds (I think sliced almonds give off a more toasty flavor, especially if you toast them yourself, but you'll get less crunch/texture)


Adjust rack to middle position and place a rimmed baking sheet on it. Heat oven (and sheet) to 500*.

Take prepared garlic heads and set cut side up on a foot long piece of aluminum foil. Drizzle cut garlic with 1tsp olive oil and wrap into a sealed foil packed. Place in preheated oven and roast until tender, approximately 40 minutes. Open foil packet and set aside to cool. (Start salted water to boil for pasta.)

While garlic is roasting, trim broccoli. Toss cut broccoli with 2 Tbs oil, 1 tsp salt, pepper to taste and 1/4 tsp sugar. When garlic is finished, remove preheated baking sheet. Arrange broccoli in single layer, cut sides down. Roast for 10-15 minutes. (Start cooking pasta.) Transfer broccoli to cutting board. When cool enough to handle, chop into rough 1/2 inch pieces.

Squeeze roasted garlic cloves into bowl and smash with fork until smooth. Stir in red pepper flakes and lemon juice. Slowly whisk in remaining 1/4cup olive oil.

Drain pasta, reserving approximately 1c of cooking water. Return pasta to pot, mix with broccoli, 1/2 shredded cheese, garlic sauce, parsley and 1/4 cup of cooking water. Adjust consistency with additiona cooking water if needed. Season to taste with salt and pepper. (I added a little more lemon juice since I started with just 2 Tbs.) Sprinkle with remaining 1/2c cheese and toasted almonds.


Taken from Cook's Illustrated Sept/Oct 2009.