Broccoli with ricotta, lemon and shaved parmesan

This wonderful mix of good food comes from a lovely recipe idea which I spotted on the ‘tenderstem’ broccoli site here. It serves four as a starter, or side dish, and takes approx 10 minutes preparation and cooking time.

Ingredients:

300g Broccoli
175g fresh ricotta
zest of ½ lemon, removed with a zester* rather than grated
juice 1 lemon
about 8 tbs extra virgin olive oil
50g Parmesan
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method:

1) Steam the Broccoli for 3-4 minutes until just tender.
2) While the Broccoli is cooking gently break the ricotta into lumps and shave the parmesan into nice curls.
3) Put the hot Broccoli onto plates and dot ricotta over the top.
4) Sprinkle on the zest and spoon on some lemon juice.
5) Scatter the parmesan over each serving.
6) Drizzle with the olive oil, sprinkle with salt, grind on some black pepper and serve.

* If you are not sure what a zester is, rather than a grater, let me show you and explain courtesy of ‘Wiki’. A zester is a kitchen utensil for obtaining zest from lemons and other citrus fruit. A kitchen zester is approximately four inches long, with a handle and a curved metal end, the top of which is perforated with a row of round holes with sharpened rims. To operate, the zester is pressed with moderate force against the fruit and drawn across its peel. The rims cut the zest from the pith underneath. The zest is cut into ribbons, one drawn through each hole.

  

All the best Jan