To prepare the orecchiette with broccoli and sausage , start by bringing a pot of salted water to a boil. Cut the broccoli into florets 1 and slice them in half, or even quarters if they’re too large. Place them in the boiling water 2 and put the lid on the pot 3 . Cook the vegetables for 6-7 minutes, and in the meantime, continue with the rest.
Finely chop the thyme and rosemary 4 and set aside. Make an incision in the sausage and remove the skin, pulling it away gently with your hands 5 , then crumble the sausage meat using the prongs of a fork 6 .
Drizzle some olive oil into a large frying pan 7 and fry the garlic clove, then add the sausage 8 . After a few seconds, add the chopped herbs and deglaze the pan with the white wine 9 .
Using a slotted spoon, and without discarding the cooking water, remove the cooked broccoli 10 from the pot of water and add it to the meat a little at a time 11 . Leave everything to cook for 3-4 minutes, then use kitchen tongs 12 to remove the garlic,
And add a pinch of black pepper 13 . Bring the water you used to cook the broccoli back to a boil, pour in the pasta, and leave to cook 14 . Once the pasta is cooked, use a slotted spoon 15 to drain it and transfer directly to the broccoli and sausage sauce.
Add the last of the orecchiette pasta, along with a ladleful of the cooking water if needed 16 , then stir well to mix the pasta into the sauce thoroughly, adding some black pepper and cooking everything in the pan for a couple of minutes 17 . Your orecchiette with broccoli and sausage is ready to be plated up and served 18 .
