What is the broccolini?

Last week I was at the grocery store and stumbled upon something new. At first sight, I thought it was broccoli but with a closer look, I noticed it wasn't. Maybe it has existed for a while but it's the first time I saw it. Broccolini is a new green vegetable in the market. What is broccolini? It has very similar looks with the broccoli but it's not the same thing and the nutritional benefits are different. It has longer florets and it's sweeter and more tender than his counterpart. In the United States, it is more commonly known as baby-brocoli or asparation.

Like the broccoli, broccolini is high in vitamin C and it also contains vitamin A, folate, calcium and iron.

Here is a small recipe that looks really good and that I have yet to try. It takes about 15 minutes to prepare and it is delicious.

Ingredients:

• Penne Pasta
• 3/4 pound broccolini, cut to small pieces
• Bacon
• Garlic
• Salt and pepper
• Parmesan cheese (depending if you eat pasta with it or not)

Directions

1. Boil lightly salted water and then add the penne. Let the pasta cook for around 8 minutes or for as much you prefer.
2. When the pasta is cooking, prepare the bacon. Simply put it in a frying pan and wait until it is crisp. Remove and drain on paper towels to remove excess of fat. Slice the bacon into small pieces to add it to the pasta at the end.
3. Cut the garlic in small pieces and pour it in the frying pan and add about a tea spoon olive oil. Mix for about 3-4 minutes at medium heat and add the broccolini. Mix and let it cook for 4 minutes or until the broccolini is tender. (if you want, you can add additional ingredients to alter the taste to your liking).
4. When the pasta is done, remove the boiling water and drain the pasta. Add the garlic and broccolini mix and then add the bacon to the pasta. Add some parmesan cheese on top of everything and you're done!

This vegetable can be used in any other way the broccoli is used. They are both crisp and very nutritious vegetables that can be added into anyone's daily nutrition. Just let your imagination work and get those cooking talents going!

Other nutritional hubs

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