The first time I had this dish I was in Rome.  Of course, I took a photo and decided to try to recreate it when I got back.  It’s a surprisingly easy recipe that uses just a few ingredients.  This is definitely a hearty meal and a big crowd pleaser.

Original dish:

Mine

This is how I made it. (recipe repeated at the end of this post)

Ingredients
1 bag frozen broccoli cuts or chopped broccoli
Orecchiette pasta but any small pasta will work
One medium onion – finely chopped (sometimes I put this in my food processor)
2T olive oil
2 cloves of garlic – minced - (sometimes I put this in my food processor)
1-2C chicken broth (you may not need both cups, use as much as needed)
1lb pork sausage (I used italian seasoned turkey but you can also use mild/hot turkey sausage, just remove it from the casing)
salt
pepper
peccorino romano cheese or parmigiano reggano cheese

Directions

Cook pasta according to package directions.

Heat olive oil and add chopped onions and minced garlic.  Cook until translucent.

I added a little bit of leftover white wine at this stage because I had some.  It worked nicely, but it’s not necessary.

When the onions are garlic are ready, add the sausage and break into pieces. I’m really bad at this part. I don’t always have the patience to chop the meat finely.

Season with salt and pepper (easy on the salt because the sausage has lot and you’ll be adding cheese later)

Brown sausage until it’s no longer pink and it’s thoroughly cooked.

Add frozen broccoli and the chicken stock.  Cook for about 10 minutes on medium heat. The chicken stock shouldn’t make too much of a sauce, it’s just to give a little moisture to the meat mixture.

Drain pasta and mix with the sauce.  You can also freeze the sauce before adding pasta if you can’t possibly eat all this food.  It does reheat really well (This is coming from someone who doesn’t like most reheated food!)

Spoon into bowls and sprinkle with parmigiano reggiano or pecorino romano cheese.

That’s it.  This is my version of a Roman dish and I hope you enjoy it.

Ingredients
1 bag frozen broccoli cuts or chopped broccoli
Orecchiette pasta but any small pasta will work
One medium onion – finely chopped (sometimes I put this in my food processor)
2T olive oil
2 cloves of garlic – minced - (sometimes I put this in my food processor)
1-2C chicken broth (you may not need both cups, use as much as needed)
1lb pork sausage (I used italian seasoned turkey but you can also use mild/hot turkey sausage, just remove it from the casing)
salt
pepper
peccorino romano cheese or parmigiano reggano cheese

Directions

Cook pasta according to package directions.

Heat olive oil and add chopped onions and minced garlic.  Cook until translucent.

When the onions are garlic are ready, add the sausage and break into pieces.

Season with salt and pepper (easy on the salt because the sausage has lot and you’ll be adding cheese later)

Brown sausage until it’s no longer pink and it’s thoroughly cooked.

Add frozen broccoli and the chicken stock.  Cook for about 10 minutes on medium heat. The chicken stock shouldn’t make too much of a sauce, it’s just to give a little moisture to the meat mixture.

Drain pasta and mix with the sauce.  You can also freeze the sauce before adding pasta if you can’t possibly eat all this food.  It does reheat really well.

Spoon into bowls and sprinkle with parmigiano reggiano or pecorino romano cheese.