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Fettuccine; which in Italian literally means “little ribbons” is a thick flat noodle made of egg and flour. Fettuccine is very popular in Rome and elsewhere in Italy where it is often referred to as tagliatelle.

While; purists still wax lyrical about the freshly made variety, in this day and age with our greatly improved production technologies the commercial dry versions; that can be found in the pasta sections of supermarkets and delicatessens, are quite okay in my book (especially when one considers the time required to make your own). So for ease and speed we will use the commercially available dry fettuccine and cook it as directed on the packet.

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Ingredients

• 400 Grams of Fettuccine
• 3 Cloves of Garlic
• 2 Medium Potatoes
• 1 Red Onion
• 2 Cups of Broccoli Florets
• ½ Cup of Toasted Pine Nuts
• 2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil
• 1 Tablespoon of Freshly Chopped Sage
• Freshly Ground Sea Salt (to season and a little for cooking the fettuccine)
• Freshly Ground Black Pepper (to season)
• Shaved Parmesan Cheese (to serve)

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Method

1. Wash, Trim and section broccoli florets. If your broccoli is a large bunch of florets you will need to break it up into smaller sections otherwise it won’t cook evenly in the quoted times listed below.
2. Peel, trim, rinse and dice the potatoes
3. Peel, rinse and finely chop the red onion
4. Peel, trim, rinse and slice the garlic cloves
5. If using fresh sage rinse, trim and chop sage leaves. Otherwise; just use 1 level tablespoon of dried finely chopped sage (available in herbs and spices section of supermarkets and delicatessens).
6. Cook fettuccine in boiling water with a pinch of freshly ground sea salt and a splash of olive oil. Otherwise follow the instructions on the fettuccine packet. Once the fettuccine is cooked strain the water retaining 1 cup of pasta water for later use.
7. Using a large frying pan or wok over a medium heat add olive oil and swirl fry pan and allow oil to heat up somewhat before adding nay ingredients. High temperature oil will speed cooking and reduce oil saturation effect of that which you are cooking. The idea here is that our finished broccoli, potato and sage fettuccine is to be light on the palate and not oil sodden or overly greasy.
8. With oil up to temperature add in the potato and stirring occasionally cook until tender (around 5 to 7 minutes). Depending upon just how crispy you wish your potatoes to be you may need to keep frying the potatoes a bit longer. Me; I really go for the crunchy potato effect so I continue cooking potatoes a bit longer (another 5 to 10 minutes or so).
9. Now stir in the finely chopped onion, the sliced garlic and the finely chopped sage. Continue cooking with the occasional stir for another 3 minutes or so.
10. Now turn the heat up to high and add in the broccoli florets. Cook mixture for another 2 minutes while gently and slowly stirring.
11. Now stir in the reserved fettuccine liquid and simmer for another minute. Adjust heat and continue simmering until broccoli is tender or cooked to your liking.
12. Once you deem that the broccoli is sufficiently cooked stir in the toasted pine nuts and season simmering mixture with freshly ground sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.
13. Reduce heat, stir in drained fettuccine and then toss mixture to combine. You are ready to go.

Serving

Portion out desired serving sizes onto a dinner plate or bowl, top fettuccine and vegetables with shaved parmesan cheese and enjoy!

Yield: 4 Adult Servings

Broccoli, Potato and Sage Fettuccine Preparation Time: 15 Minutes

Broccoli, Potato and Sage Fettuccine Cooking Time: 15 Minutes