In honour of it being National Vegetarian Week (NVW) 2012 here in the UK I have been trying out some new vegetarian recipes this week. Tonight’s offering was the family-friendly “Fusili with broccoli and mascarpone“. I say family-friendly because I successfully tested on my family and everyone enjoyed it – from a fussy 4 year old to a 41 year old :-) and also because it only took about 20 minutes to cook!
Just a quick mention about National Vegetarian Week – this is basically the UK’s annual awareness raising campaign which aims to promote “inspirational vegetarian food and a meat-free lifestyle”. For further information on this take a look at http://www.nationalvegetarianweek.org/. Also on the website are details of events happening this week all over the country as well as some yummy-sounding recipes.
Back to tonight’s dinner….I have taken a photo of the finished product – not sure this photo makes it look too appetising (taken with camera on phone!) but it tasted nice…honest!
In case this tickles your fancy here is the recipe I used:
Fusili with broccoli and mascarpone
(Serves 4)
– Fusili (as much as you use for your family – I never measure- I just bung it in the pan and any that’s not eaten I use for leftovers! I think generally though people say about 90g per person.)
– 1x 200g pack of purple sprouting broccoli (this was plenty for us but you could use more)
– 1 tbsp Olive oil (should be enough)
– 1/2 small red onion
– 1 finely chopped clove of garlic
– 250g pot of Mascarpone
– Grated Mature Cheddar (approx. 75g but depends how cheesy you like it)
– 2tsp whole grain mustard
1) Cook your pasta as you would usually and add the broccoli in towards the end with enough time for it to cook but without the pasta or the broccoli getting mushy.
2) Add the olive oil to a frying pan and fry the finely chopped onion and garlic for a couple of minutes- until softened (but not burnt! Easily done as I know from personal experience…)
3) Now add the mascarpone, cheddar and mustard. I had to turn the heat down low to allow the mascarpone to soften a little at first and then cook for the time needed for the cheddar to melt and it all to turn into a yummy looking sauce.
4) Drain the pasta and broccoli and mix in with the sauce.
5) Serve up to your eager guests/family and wait for the applauds/praise that will no doubt (hopefully) ensue.
I hope you like the recipe – it’s quick, easy and very cheesy….(you might need a glass of water (or wine) on the side to counteract the cheesiness ;-))
Happy Vegetarian Week!!
This sounds delicious. I didn’t realize the UK had a national Vegetarian Week; that’s pretty neat. I doubt we have one here in the States.
Hi there. I don’t often cook with either mascarpone or mustard so it was great to try new flavours and I was surprised there were no complaints from my kids ;-) so I can definitely recommend!
Didn’t realise that there is a vegetarian week, but the dish sounds delicious, will definitely have a go this week. Thanks!
I just randomly found out it was National Vegetarian Week but I’ve been wanting to try this dish for ages so it was good timing…
Mmm, that recipe sounds lovely. Will have to try…
x
Yes, as long as you like cheese you’ll love it :-) Very distinct flavours with the mustard and mascarpone. Enjoy xx
Being French, I guess loving cheese is sort of mandatory ;) ! I’m going shopping this afternoon so will get the ingredients and tell you how it goes down next week… x
I love new ways to eat broccoli. Thanks for sharing!
You’re welcome :-) I love broccoli too- so healthy…Hope you’re having a gd week. Look fwd to reading ur next post x
Looks good, I might try this tonight – you think its ok to use Philly instead of Mascapone?
Anything which can be on the table in 20 minutes is good in our house!!
Strangely brocoli is one of the only veggies my son will eat (the other is carrots).
It’s worth a try! The mascarpone was pretty thick in the pot and took a while to melt down so it’s a different consistency to philadelphia but I’m sure it’ll still taste nice. They’ve been advertising using philly for macaroni cheese on the pots so they definitely do use it in pasta dishes. Hope it works! I LOVE broccoli and the kids love it too…tenderstem and purple sprouting varieties are just delish xx
Just a little PS to say that I served it to fifteen last weekend, and it went down a storm. Thank you so much x :)
Wow! That’s amazing! Glad it worked out well :-) Did you test it beforehand or take the plunge directly??
Nope, I didn’t get a chance to test it. Just went along with it. With lovely ingredients, it’s a pretty foolproof recipe… :)