Take your taste buds on a delicious trip to the sun drenched heel of Italy's boot with this incredible Puglian Orecchiette With Baby Broccoli! This beloved classic from the gorgeous Puglia region features wonderfully chewy little ears pasta — whose unique saucer shape catches every drop of the most incredibly savory and aromatic sauce all tossed with crisp tender baby broccoli and finished with a glorious shower of Parmigiano Reggiano! Ready in just 25 minutes and bursting with authentic Southern Italian flavor in every single bite!
A trip to Italy would be a trip to foodie heaven. Italy boasts some of the most delicious food on planet Earth. It is a dream of mine to travel back to Italy on a culinary tour. Can you imagine amazing pastas, wines, cheeses, and desserts available at most every corner in Italy? Foodie heaven for sure!!
One dish I would love to try on a visit to Italy would be Puglian Orecchiette With Broccoli. This dish, one of the most delicious of pasta dishes, is often made with broccoli rabe, also known as rapini.
I don't have any trips to Italy planned soon, so I'll have to whip up this delicious Italian pasta in my home kitchen. And here I'll show you how easy it is for you to create this in your own kitchen for your family to enjoy!
Orecchiette Is Saucer Shaped Pasta
Puglia, which forms the "heel" of Italy's boot, is a region in Southern Italy. And Puglia arguably has some of the best food in the country. A signature dish from Puglia is Orecchiette with Broccoli. Orecchiette is a type of pasta that comes from the Puglian area. Saucer shaped, it means "little ears" in Italian.
You are in for a treat if you are being introduced to this pasta shape for the first time! The saucer shape of the pasta allows for sauce to collect in the depression, and the texture is somewhat marvelously chewy.
So now let me show you what ingredients you will need to make this orecchiette recipe that packs such big flavor!
🥘 Ingredients
Here are the simple ingredients you will need to make this dish:
- Orecchiette pasta - you'll love this "small ears" pasta!
- Baby broccoli - as mentioned previously, this dish is commonly made with broccoli rabe. However, I'm using baby broccoli in this recipe, which is a fabulous substitution. I've also made this using florets from a regular broccoli crown, so feel free to sub that if you like
- Fresh Garlic
- Anchovy fillets
- Red chili flakes - you can also sub a couple of your favorite fresh chilis
- Butter
- Olive oil
- Salt
- Black pepper
- Parmigiano Reggiano or Pecorino Romano
A prominent flavor in this dish comes from anchovies, which is commonly used in southern Italian cooking, and will give this pasta a great umami flavor. So, this dish is savory and also a bit spicy due to the addition of red pepper flakes.
Certainly anchovies are not just for pizza!! And, I love cooking with anchovies. In this instance, the combination of olive oil, garlic, red peppers, and anchovies is absolutely delicious.
Let's gather our ingredients and get cooking!
🔪 Instructions
Before we begin, I challenge you to practice your Italian whilst making this dish! Keep repeating "orecchiette" and "Puglia" until these words roll off your tongue. 🙂
Prep The Baby Broccoli
Cut the baby broccoli or broccoli crown into bite sized pieces. Include the stems of the baby broccoli, but cut off any ends that appear woody or hard.
Prepare The Pasta Sauce
Heat up your olive oil and butter in a large sauté pan or Dutch oven on medium low heat to medium heat until the butter melts. Then add minced garlic and stir often, using a wooden spoon, for 1 minute.
Add your anchovy fillets, with some of the oil that the fillets were packed in. Cook, stirring often, for 2 minutes or until the anchovies have "melted." Lower heat if necessary to prevent the garlic from browning too much.
Now add salt, pepper, and red chili flakes (or a couple of your favorite minced chilies), stir, and keep warm on a very low setting while you cook the pasta.
Cook The Dry Pasta And Baby Broccoli
Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil, and prepare your orecchiette according to package directions. For best results, I recommend cooking the pasta to an al dente texture. Al dente means "to the tooth" and indicates the pasta should be firm to the bite, and not overcooked and mushy.
PLEASE NOTE: You will need to reserve approximately 1 cup of the pasta water, collected at or near the end of the time when the pasta is finished cooking.
3-4 minutes before the end of cooking time for your pasta, add the broccoli pieces into the boiling water.
When the pasta is finished cooking, drain the broccoli and the cooked pasta. REMEMBER: You will need to reserve a cup of pasta cooking water just prior to draining the broccoli and pasta.
Combine The Ingredients
Add the cooked broccoli and orecchiette to your anchovy, garlic, salt, pepper, and red pepper (or chilis), and olive oil/butter mixture, and stir.
Start adding the reserved pasta water a little at a time and continue stirring until you get a nice smooth sauce. You may not need to add all of the reserved pasta water.
Taste and adjust for seasoning if desired, add a delightful amount of Parmigiano Reggiano or Pecorino cheese, then enjoy!
Suggestions For Serving!
This simple broccoli pasta dish pairs perfectly with a green salad as a side dish, and a refreshing glass of Italian white wine such as Pinot Grigio.
You will love Orecchiette with Baby Broccoli and I hope you will indulge in this delicious dinner soon! Enjoy a taste of southern Italy!!
Please find the full printable recipe card with step by step instructions below.
Thank you for visiting and I would be grateful if you would share this orecchiette pasta recipe or comment below!
FAQ
Orecchiette is a type of pasta that comes from the Puglian area. Saucer shaped, it means "little ears" in Italian. The saucer shape of the pasta allows for sauce to collect in the depression, and the texture is somewhat marvelously chewy. 
I have made this recipe using florets from a broccoli crown very successfully as a substitute for baby broccoli! Simply cut the florets into bite sized pieces for use.
Some Other Recipes You May Enjoy!
You may also enjoy these other pasta recipes:
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Cheers!
Grace
Puglian Orecchiette with Baby Broccoli
Equipment
- 1 large pot for cooking the orecchiette
- 1 large sauté pan or Dutch oven this pan will be used to make the sauce; the cooked pasta will be added to this pan later so it should be large enough to accommodate the pasta
- wooden spoon recommended for making the sauce
Ingredients
- 1 bunch baby broccoli can also use a medium to large broccoli crown
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 4 anchovy fillets with oil
- ¾ ts red chili flakes can also sub a couple of your favorite chilies!
- 4 tablespoon butter
- 16 oz orecchiette pasta
- 3 tablespoon olive oil extra virgin
- ¾ ts salt plus additional to taste
- ½ ts pepper plus additional to taste
Optional Garnish
- ½ cup parmesan cheese grated; could also use Pecorino Romano
Instructions
- Cut the baby broccoli or broccoli crown into bite sized pieces. Include the stems of the baby broccoli, but cut off any ends that appear woody or hard.
- Heat up your olive oil and butter in a large pan on medium low heat to medium heat until the butter melts. Then add minced garlic and stir often for 1 minute.
- Add your anchovy fillets, with some of the oil that the fillets were packed in. Cook, stirring often, for 2 minutes or until the anchovies have "melted." Lower heat if necessary to prevent the garlic from browning too much.
- Add salt, pepper, and red chili flakes (or a couple of your favorite minced chilies), stir, and keep warm on a very low setting while you cook the pasta.
- Boil salted water in a large pot, and prepare your orecchiette according to package directions. I recommend cooking the pasta to an al dente texture. PLEASE NOTE: You will need to reserve approximately 1 cup of the pasta water, collected at or near the end of the time when the pasta is finished cooking
- Boil pasta water in a large pot, and prepare your orecchiette according to package directions. PLEASE NOTE: You will need to reserve approximately 1 cup of the pasta water, collected at or near the end of the time when the pasta is finished cooking
- 3-4 minutes before your pasta is finished cooking, add the broccoli pieces into the boiling pasta water
- When the pasta is finished cooking, drain the broccoli and the pasta. REMEMBER: You will need to reserve 1 cup of the pasta water just prior to draining the broccoli and pasta
- Add the cooked broccoli and orecchiette to your anchovy, garlic, salt, pepper, and red pepper (or chilis), and olive oil/butter mixture, and stir
- Start adding the reserved pasta water a little at a time and continue stirring until you get a nice smooth sauce. You may not need to add all of the reserved pasta water.
- Taste and adjust for seasoning if desired, add a delightful amount of Parmigiano Reggiano, then enjoy!
Linda
I can’t wait to make this! It looks amazing. Love your dog.
Grace
Hi Linda! I hope you are well! Thank you so much for your comments and I'm super excited that you may try it out! Please do let me know what you think of it and any comments and suggestions for improvement are greatly appreciated. Toby sends his love back. 🙂 Thanks again take good care! Grace
Dana
This recipe sounds delicious but I am allergic to anchovies. Is there a substitute I can use?
Grace
Hi Dana! Hope you are well! So sorry to hear about your anchovy allergy. 🙁 I haven't used these myself but I've read about several substitutes: thin sheets of nori (seaweed) ground into a powder, capers or chopped kalamata olives. Other subs are fish sauce, shrimp paste, and Worcestershire, but they may contain anchovy themselves. I might go ahead and suggest the capers or the olives for this dish...they are super salty so you won't need too much but I think either one would go nicely. 🙂 If you do end up making this I'd love to hear your feedback! I could also add some comments in the post about your situation and how the substitution turned out..it could help others as well! Thank you so much and take care!! Grace