Roasted Broccolini

A citrusy, garlicky, and roasted-y green vegetable

Broccolini are essentially broccoli with smaller florets an extra long legs. What’s really crazy about this vegetable is it was developed just four decades ago over a period of eight years. Japanese seed company Sakata Inc developed broccolini through traditional cross breeding techniques during an eight year period, launching the new vegetable in 1993.

The long stems were reminiscent of asparagus, and the creators considered naming their new veg asparbroc, according to Helen Sullivan at the Guardian. Though a terrible brand name, I see the resemblance to asparagus, and that’s essentially how I treated these when I was looking to pan roast them.

When I’m roasting traditional broccoli, I’ll typically cut the thick stems into small chunks and create floret bulbs of similar size. This provides plenty of space for crispy edges.

But since Broccolini is mostly stem, I thought the better approach here might be to celebrate the length. I sliced each one in half and then added seasoning, garlic, oil, and lemon, roasting for about 20 minutes, or until the stalks were soft but retained their shape.

Ingredients

• Broccolini

• 2-3 Garlic cloves

• Olive oil

• 1/2 lemon

• Salt

Instructions

• Slice broccolini stalks in half lengthwise (for extra thick stalks, cut in thirds)

• Thinly slice garlic cloves

• Gently zest the lemon

• Toss garlic slices and broccolini with olive oil, salt, and zest

• Arrange in roasting pan avoiding overlap

• Thinly slice the lemon and arrange slices over the broccolini

• Roast at 425F for approximately 20 minutes (adjusting time based on texture)