Once you have your pasta water at a boil and your broccoli cut into florets, this dish ? a perfect weekday quick-comfort meal ? takes no time at all to prepare. The star here is the crispy broccoli. You create that crispiness by allowing your pant and oil to get a lot hotter than you normally would ? to the point where the oil is just about smoking ? then quickly throwing in the broccoli and covering the pan. The broccoli sears around the edges, caramelizes, and develops a real depth of flavor. The capellini or angel hair pasta cooks in 3 minutes, so don?t put it in the boiling water until the broccoli/broth part of the recipe is ready. (If you want the pasta wait for the sauce, it will start clumping up.) Finally, here?s a handy tip on how to grate your Parmigiano-Reggiano without scraping your knuckles raw: just cut it into chunks, toss it into the food processor, and let the blades grate it as fine as you like. Serve with crusty bread and a side of Borscht Beets.

Ingredients

• Kosher salt
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 large head broccoli, 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 pounds, stems removed and florets trimmed into pieces 2 inches long with a stem about 1/2-inch thick (4 to 5 cups)
• Salt
• 1 quart chicken stock, preferably homemade
• 1 to 2 teaspoons hot red pepper flakes, to taste
• 1/2 pound capellini
• 1 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
• Freshly ground black pepper

Directions