Cauliflower with broccoli alla Francesca

Ingredients for 2 servings:

• 1 small cauliflower
• 1 small broccoli
• 3 large tomatoes
• 6 small onions
• 3 medium-sized garlic cloves
• ½ pepper, red, long, medium hot
• 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 30 g tomato juice
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 6 black olives, pitted
• 2 tbsp celery leaves
• 100 g water
• 2 g broth, granulated
• Salt and pepper, black, from the mill
• n. B. Black olives, whole, pitted, for garnishing
• e.g. celery leaves, for garnishing
• n. B. Flowers and leaves for garnishing
• possibly white bread

Instructions

Working time approx. 20 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 20 minutes; Total time approx. 40 minutes

A vegetable side dish for meat dishes. Served cold with toasted white bread, it makes a great snack. Recipe from Liguria, Italy.

Wash the cauliflower and broccoli. Separate the florets from the stems and chop into bite-sized pieces. Reserve the stalks for another purpose. Blanch the cauliflower and broccoli for 5 minutes. Then separate 100g of water and make a stock with the vegetable stock. Place the well-drained florets in a serving dish. Wash the tomatoes, remove the stems, skin them, deseed them, and dice them. Trim both ends of the onions and garlic cloves, peel them, and roughly chop them. Wash the bell peppers, halve them lengthwise, deseed one half, and dice them into small pieces. Chop the olives. Fry the onions and garlic cloves in olive oil until the onions begin to brown. Add the tomato pieces and cook for 3 minutes. Deglaze with the vegetable stock, tomato juice, and lemon juice. Add the diced bell peppers and chopped olives. Simmer the mixture until creamy. Stir in the celery leaves and season with salt and pepper. Pour the sauce over the florets, garnish, and serve as a side dish (contorni) or with white bread as a snack.