Pasta with Broccoli (Vegetarian)

This is Grandma's recipe, but I made it with penne pasta instead of the vermicelli that Grandma and Grandpa always used. (They never used spaghetti pasta, said the strands were too fat.) Vermicelli cooks in 7 minutes. I often use angel hair pasta for this because it cooks so quickly (3 to 4 minutes).

You can use jarred minced garlic, but the fresh garlic adds a nutty taste. The veggies are cooked a little more than you might ordinarily cook broccoli, so that the flavors blend. Then you toss in the cooked pasta, and top each serving with grated or shredded parmesan cheese.

Note: The "sauce" in this dish is very liquid, like soup - and that's authentic to the recipe. If you want a true "sauce" you could stir some heavy cream into the dish when it is done.

Note for folks with food allergies: I bought some pasta that was labeled as higher in protein. Turns out it was made with chickpeas as well as soybeans, along with normal pasta ingredients. Read the labels.

Ingredients:

One large head or 2 crowns of fresh broccoli - trimmed & chopped small
1 onion (small to medium) - trimmed & chopped
3-4 cloves garlic - trimmed & sliced or crushed
fresh ground pepper
sprinkle of salt
2 tablespoons olive oil (more as needed)
1 cup water (you can use some of the water taken from the pot of cooking pasta - dip it out with a heat-proof glass measuring cup)

12 oz. to 1 lb freshly cooked pasta (vermicelli, angel hair or penne, or whatever kind you want to use)
Parmesan cheese

Trim the broccoli and cut or chop it into relatively small pieces, place in large skillet with the olive oil and start sauteeing it, stirring often over medium heat. Meanwhile, trim and chop the onion and add it to the pan. Then trim and slice up the garlic cloves or crush them with a garlic press and add them to the cooking veggies. You add the garlic last because it will burn more easily than the onion. When the broccoli starts to look bright green all over, add the salt, pepper and water, turn the heat down, and cover it to cook more.

Meanwhile, you will be heating the water for the pasta and cooking it. When the pasta is done, drain it and then toss it with the broccoli mixture. Serve topped with parmesan cheese.