Steamed, boiled or even stir-fried, purple sprouting broccoli makes a great partner to a wide range of meat and fish dishes. From the Italian world brocco meaning branch or arm, we’ve been eating broccoli since it was first introduced to Britain by the Romans, with the purple sprouting variety becoming popular much more recently. You can even eat the leaves!

Buy young, tender and crisp – avoid bendy stems!

We used the Hahn Stainless Steel Stockpot/Pasta Pot

Serves four as a main course

• 300g purple sprouting broccoli, roughly chopped into stems and heads
• 600g pasta of your choice
• 75g wholemeal breadcrumbs, lightly toasted in a dry frying-pan
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped or crushed
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 5 anchovy fillets, whole
• ½ medium red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
• small handful flatleaf parsley, roughly chopped
• squeeze of lemon juice

1. Set the broccoli to boil in a small pan of water (takes about 10mins)
2. In a separate pan, simmer the pasta in boiling salted water for about 15 mins
3. In a heavy frying pan, heat the olive oil, adding the garlic, anchovies and chilli when hot
4. Stir the garlic and anchovies together until the anchovies melt down to a paste-like texture
5. Add the breadcrumbs and cook until the crumbs are crispy. You may need to add more olive oil as the crumbs absorb the oil.
6. Drain the broccoli and add to the breadcrumb mixture. Stir through
7. Drain the pasta and combine with the broccoli and breadcrumb mixture. Stir in a squeeze of lemon juice.
8. Add a generous helping of parsley to each portion and serve.