Steamed Broccoli with Olive Oil and Lemon
Serves: 4
Preparation time: 15 min.
Broccoli al Limone is a nice, simple side dish or appetizer from Italy. It goes well with many Mediterranean dishes. You can serve the broccoli in a cartwheel fashion, like in the photo. Arrange thinly sliced lemon in the middle. Make sure you don't overcook the broccoli.
Ingredients:
- 1 bunch broccoli
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- juice of 1 lemon
- lemon slices, thinly cut, for garnish
- 1 clove garlic (optional)
Preparation:
Wash and trim broccoli, discard tough lower third of broccoli stem. If stalks are large split them lengthwise in 2 or 3 pieces. Place broccoli in a vegetable steamer over boiling water and steam for 5 - 7 minutes, turning the broccoli once in a while. Remove from heat and run broccoli briefly under cold water. This will retain the fresh green color. Keep it warm in a serving bowl. Mix extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Pour the mixture over the broccoli and serve with thinly sliced lemon.
There is variation of this dish by adding garlic. Sauté a finely chopped garlic clove in a skillet together with the olive oil. Make sure that the garlic is just tender not brown. Let it cool a bit, then add the lemon juice, salt and pepper. Pour it over the broccoli and serve.
If used as an appetizer, I like the garlic version better. As a side dish you might want to omit the garlic in case the main entrée asks for a less flavored accompaniment.
