What to do with a mountain of broccoli

I like broccoli. I'd be a pretty rubbish vegetarian if I didn't, however, having three bunches of it in the fridge needing to be used poses quite a challenge. It is a good vegetable, a superfood in fact, but there is only so much of it you can eat steamed, or chopped into a pasta sauce, and when you need to use up so much at once it's rather a daunting prospect.

Enter the wonderful Ottolenghi cookbook. I really can't praise this new addition to my growing food library enough. It's packed with amazing recipes and I know our summer is going to involve basically working our way through them. Whilst browsing it yesterday in front of the test match I came across the recipe for Chargrilled broccoli with chilli and garlic. It sounded like the perfect thing to try with loads of broccoli sitting around, a nice exciting way to use the veg and when placed with another salady type dish would make the perfect light dinner after all the baked goods. I decided to couple if with an invention of my own, spiced veggie sausages with chickpeas and sultanas.

I don't have a griddle pan (yet! hehe) and so just had to dry fry the broccoli and hope for the best. Fortunately it worked fine. I think the griddle would definitely be preferable as it would give a proper chargrilled taste, but frying is certainly an okay solution.





Spiced veggie sausage with chickpeas and sultanas. (serves 4 as a side, 2 as a main)

4oog tin chickpeas
5 veggie sausages
handful of sultanas

In the water left over from the broccoli cook the chickpeas for five minutes of so until just going soft. Meanwhile chop the sausages and douse in ras al hanut. In a deep frying pan heat a small amount of chili flavoured olive oil. Throw the sausages, with all the spice and fry for a few minutes on a high heat until the sausages begin to brown. turn down the heat and add the chickpeas and sultanas. Cook slowly until the broccoli dish above is ready, stirring constantly so that the chickpeas and sultanas cook and get covered in the spices from the sausages. Serve immediately with the broccoli.