• 1 pound farfalle (bow tie pasta)
• Two large heads of broccoli, cut into florets
• 1 pound of sweet or hot Italian sausage
• 4 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 1/4 cup olive oil plus more for drizzle
• 1/4 cup pitted kalamata olives
• 1/2 cup Pecorino Romano cheese, grated

This hearty dish is not something you would find in an Italian restaurant. This is truly a home cooked meal bursting with flavor. My Sicilian grandmother made variations of this dish, most notably sauteed broccoli with garlic, olive oil, black olives and pork. Those flavors come alive in this one meal pasta dish. The broccoli is cooked down so it creates a cream sauce when mixed with the pasta water and Romano cheese. Old school Italians like their vegetables cooked really well. I always remember my mother complaining when a waiter served string beans or broccoli that were steamed and crisp. She always sent them back to be cooked more. Well, this dish would make her happy. The sausage meat is broken up into bite size pieces when browned. This makes it easier to eat with the bow tie pasta. I find eating this with a spoon works very well. Served with a side salad, this is a very satisfying meal.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add 1 tablespoon of salt to the water. Add the washed broccoli to the boiling water and cook at least 8-10 minutes. Broccoli must be cooked till it’s very soft.

While the broccoli is cooking, take the sausage out of the casing and brown in a large frying pan. Pick off bite sized pieces of the sausage adding to the hot pan. Remove the sausage to a dish and set aside. Drain all the fat from the pan. Add 1/4 cup of olive oil and cook the garlic till fragrant. Remove the broccoli with a spider or mesh strainer and add to the frying pan. Cook the bow tie pasta in the same water you cooked the broccoli. Cook the pasta 1 minute less than the package suggests.

Add the olives to the pan with the broccoli. Cook down the broccoli and break up any large pieces. Add the reserved sausage to the pan with the broccoli. Once the pasta is cooked, remove it with a spider or mesh strainer. Add it to the pan with the broccoli and sausage. Add about 2 cups of the pasta water. Cook this while stirring for about 2 minutes. The mixture should get creamy, if not add some more pasta water. Remove from the heat and add the Romano cheese. Keep stirring till it all comes together. Taste for salt and pepper and drizzle with some more extra virgin olive oil.