A Recipe for Purple Sprouting Broccoli

At this time of year the Purple Sprouting Broccoli is at its best, and in our household we try to find lots of ways to use it. Here's a dish that I recently invented...

Stir-fried PSB with Butternut Squash
I made this dish to complement a chicken risotto, so let's show you that first... Nothing special, just a conventional chicken risotto. I think you'll agree that is looks a bit "monochrome".

When I have finished cooking a risotto, I like to leave it to stand for 10 - 15 minutes to let the rice plump up a bit. This gives a "window of opportunity" in which to cook a side dish of some sort, which is where my PSB comes in.
A bit of advance preparation is advisable:

You can see there half a Butternut Squash, halved, peeled and diced; a sliced red chilli; about 10 Walnut halves; and a slack handful of PSB, washed and cut into small florets. Here's a closer view of the PSB:

I doused the Walnuts in Pumpkin Seed oil and toasted them in a hot oven for 10 minutes or so, which really brings out their flavor.

I also pre-cooked the Butternut Squash, roasting it with a splash of oil in a hot oven (200C) to achieve a bit of charring at the edges. I think this looks attractive as well as enhancing the flavor. It took about 25 minutes. When it was done, I set it aside until needed.

When the risotto started its 10 minutes standing-time, I whacked the heat up high on one of my gas rings, and heated some vegetable oil in a wok. Then, in went the PSB, shortly followed by the squash, the chilli and the walnuts. I turned the veg frequently with two wooden spatulas, adding a couple of splashes of water to create steam to help the broccoli cook. [Note: I think if I did this dish again I would parboil the PSB in advance, because I had to stir-fry it for longer than I had initially intended in order to soften the stems.] Just before serving, I added a generous splash of Balsamic vinegar to sharpen-up the flavours.

Here's the finished dish, served alongside the chicken risotto.

I've not illustrated it here, but the final element of our meal was some toasted home-made bread, with garlic butter - Yum!
I felt this was a good meal - nutritious, well-balanced, tasty and a good mix of colours, textures and flavours.
P.S. Might need some more recipes soon...