As promised, and with kind permission of Bellaverde®, here is another great recipe to give you a different way of eating broccoli.

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 courgettes, trimmed
• 200g bellaverde® broccoli
• 450g/1lb dry spaghetti
• 90ml/6tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 25g/1oz walnut pieces, roughly chopped
• zest of a lemon
• a pinch of dried chilli flakes
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 60ml/4tbsp freshly grated Parmesan cheese

METHOD:

1. Coarsely grate the courgettes then place them in a clean tea towel and squeeze dry. Meanwhile, wash the bellaverde® and prepare by trimming the base of the spear. Chop in diagonal slices about 3cm long with the leaves.
2. Heat the oil in a large frying pan, add the courgettes and fry for 7 mins on a medium heat.Fry for 7 mins on a medium heat. Stir occasionally. Add in the bellaverde®, chilli flakes, walnuts and lemon zest and continue to cook for a further 3 mins. Season with salt and stir
3. In the meantime cook the pasta in a large saucepan of salted, boiling water for 8-10 mins or until just tender and ‘al dente’. Drain in a colander.
4. Add the spaghetti to the frying pan and toss all together onon a medium heat for 30 secs.
5. Serve immediately with Parmesan cheese on top.

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Bellaverde(R) Broccoli

Broccoli is said to be one of nature’s superfoods, and this week I want to focus firstly on the health benefits of eating it and secondly on the launch of a new variety of broccoli that has all the health benefits of traditional broccoli while being more palatable to those who don’t number it among their favourite foods.

Why is broccoli good for you?

Broccoli contains the antioxidant beta-carotene and is also an excellent source of vitamin C. For every ounce, broccoli provides more vitamin C than an orange, more calcium than a glass of milk, and three-times the amount of fiber in a slice of wheat bran bread. It also provides calcium, potassium, folate and phytonutrients, which are plant compounds that may help prevent diabetes, heart disease and some cancers.

Broccoli is necessary for maintenance of skin, the mucous membranes, bones, teeth, and hair; for good vision; and for reproduction.

Studies show that broccoli sprouts reduce infection from the Helicobacter pylori bacteria. H.pylori is linked to peptic ulcers, stomach cancers and gastric lymphoma.

There is research suggesting that a mechanism involving antioxidants found in the Brassicaceae family of vegetables (broccoli, Brussels sprouts cabbage and cauliflower) can prevent the build-up of free radicals. Excessive free radical production can damage cells and may even trigger cancers

But despite all these undisputed virtues, many people shun eating broccoli. So I was pleased to receive information on:

Bellaverde® – the Belle of the Brassicas

Fresh from the fields of Lincolnshire, bellaverde® is a new sweet tasting long stemmed broccoli, very similar in appearance to the traditional wild broccoli Cime di Rapa, eaten by our forbears. The young shoots are hand picked after just 10 days of growth and have a delicate, clean, fresh sweet taste, quite unlike any other broccoli.

Over the years farmers and breeders have invested time, effort and money on research programmes to develop a less bitter, sweeter tasting broccoli, and in the end nature came up with its own solution with bellaverde®.

Phillip Effingham, Director of Farming and Agronomic Development with leading brassica producer Marshalls*, based in Lincolnshire, explains: “We had been trialling a new variety of broccoli and I was walking across the field inspecting the crop after the main head had been harvested when I saw these fresh young shoots growing from lower down the plant. I bent down to taste one and it was a real eureka moment. It was what we had been working towards all these years.”

Because of its vibrant colour, farmers have christened the crop bellaverde®, which is Italian for “beautiful green.”  Broccoli originates from Italy where the name means ‘little shoots’. Bellaverde® is a true pure broccoli, rather than a cross with another vegetable, and therefore has all the health boosting superfood qualities of a traditional broccoli. It is high in Vitamin C, fibre and the B vitamin folate as well as being a source of potassium.

Bellaverde® will be launching in the supermarkets across the country from early July with the UK season lasting right up until the end of November when production switches to Spain to ensure a year round supply.

Phillip added: “Bellaverde® has a very long UK season compared to other long stemmed broccoli varieties which need to be flown in from warmer climates, and so we believe it will be very popular with customers who are actively looking for home grown produce. It will be grown on just one farm in Lincolnshire and one farm in Spain to ensure quality and consistency.”

To celebrate the launch, Italian celebrity chef Gino D’Acampo has devised some delicious family recipes using broccoli, which are available on www.bellaverde.co.uk. (launching soon) along with a host of other recipes and cooking tips. I shall bring you some delicious broccoli recipes over the next week or so.

“I love broccoli,” says Gino, “but it was not always the case. As a young boy I did find the bitter taste quite off-putting and so I think bellaverde® could be the answer to many parents’ dreams. My two young sons certainly like it.”

Gino added: “But what’s great for me as a chef is its versatility. You can throw it into stir fries, toss it in pasta, serve it on the side with meat or fish, enjoy in a warm salad or just eat raw as a crudité with dips. The florets and stems cook to perfection to give a crisp ‘al dente’ bite and nothing gets wasted.”

People who dislike broccoli aren’t just being fussy eaters. Twenty-five per cent of the population have more taste receptors on their tongues than the rest of us and are known as ‘super tasters’. They are genetically pre-disposed to pick up on the bitter taste of broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables and to dislike them. They usually dislike the bitter taste of coffee and grapefruit juice too. The most famous broccoli hater was George Bush Senior who banned it from the White House.

With the launch of bellaverde®, British farmers are hoping everyone will now be able to benefit from the many nutritional benefits of broccoli.

It takes just three minutes to cook, with nothing being wasted as it can all go into the pan. An 80z serving counts as one of your 5-a-day and contains just 26 calories (kcals).

* Marshalls is a division of Produce World, also based in Lincolnshire, which will be packing, distributing and marketing bellaverde®