One of the most curious pizzas on offer at Nancy Silverton and Mario Batali's Mozza Pizzeria in Los Angeles, which I wrote about visiting in another post, was a white-sauced pizza topped with "long-cooked broccoli" which my waiter described as having been dressed in olive oil and put in the oven on low heat for "four or five hours". Honestly, that didn't sound good to me at all, but I have to admit it actually looked pretty good when the guy next to me at the counter ordered it.
With the sole exception of green beans or spinach in a famous Indian dish, I have never liked vegetables cooked past the point where they lose their natural color. I despise vapid, soft carrots in stews, peas that turn gray, you name it I hate them all: I want bright color, bright flavor, and if not crisp than at least not cooked past the point where you can't tell they were fresh to start with.
At least, that's what I've always thought. Nancy Silverton's a brilliant chef, and what do I really know about long-cooked broccoli anyway, had I ever had it? Maybe there's a truly magical flavor that occurs after all that time, maybe it's something I should try, I thought. Someday. Well, someday hadn't really arrived yet, but when, on Tuesday, unexpected complications turned a two hour crown prep dentist appointment into a miserable four hour procedure and I ended up with a mouth too sore to chew anything much firmer than a four hour stalk of broccoli, it seemed the time had come.
What I did was break up the broccoli into reasonable pieces in a dutch oven sized pan and pour EVOO and a liberal quantity of kosher salt all over. The pot, covered, went into a 300 degree oven. After an hour, the broccoli was soft and still surprisingly quite green. After two hours, it had faded somewhat but the flavor had actually deepened and improved with sweet caramel tones. I turned the heat down to 250 and kept going. After three hours, the color had darkened into a brown hue and the flavor had deepened further yet, but I thought it had gone too far. Two hours had been better. Still I served it because I needed food, and in the company of a Cotes du Rhone red, the broccoli tasted much better than it had in the pan. I actually liked it. In fact, even more surprising than that I liked the broccoli prepared this way was the way the wine and the broccoli flattered each other. I would not have bet on it!
So, will I do it again? I just might. Trouble is, you wouldn't serve this dish in the same situations you would serve greener, fresher broccoli, it's a completely different dish in and of itself and I'm not sure where you WOULD serve it. I guess that[s the Part II of this exercise. Viability? Established. Application? To be determined.