Romanesco Broccoli & Fusilli Stir-Fry

The first time I ate a Romanesco was in Paris five years ago. I was fifteen years old and spend my whole vacations at the place of my best friends dad Jérôme. He lived right in the centre of this beautiful city of love and I might had the best view on the Eiffel Tower out of my window.
Parisians have the unfamiliar habit of eating at later times than Germans do, so we usually had lunch at 3pm and dinner at midnight. Every single day Jérôme threw some veggies for lunch together and paired it with whole grain pasta and thinned tomato puree. Even though it was a very simple meal it tasted delicious, fresh and crisp. I've never seen a Romanesco before and was literally flashed by it's artistic structure and it's bright green color. At that time I was not the biggest addict of veggies but the Romanesco made me eat tons.

When I found out that our local market sells Romaneso I played around with some variations of Jérôme's version. This colorful stir-fry was the tasty result. I didn't use whole grain pasta in this but noodles made of peas (though normal pasta would work too). You can find them in your local health store and they are definitely worth a try. The sauce is made from nut butter and sun-dried tomatoes with a hint of chili.

Romanesco Broccoli & Fusilli Stir-Fry
for 2 persons

1 Romanesco
150g pea or whole grain Pasta
1 Tbsp Sultanas
4-5 sun-dried Tomatoes
1 Tbsp Cashew Butter
3 Tbsp Olive Oil
3 stems of flat-leaf Parsley
Chilli flakes
Salt to taste

In a small bowl pour 100ml of boiling water over the Sultanas and set aside. Then separate the romanesco in florets. Cook the pasta following the package instructions. In another mixing bowl blend the sun-dried tomatoes, the cashew butter, one Tbsp of olive oil and a pinch of chili together with 100ml of water and set aside too.
Heat up the remaining olive oil in a frying pan and sear the romanesco for about 3 minutes. Cover and let it steam on low heat for another 15 minutes. At least just add the pasta, the sultanas plus their water, the sauce and finely chopped parsley to the romanesco and stir well until combined.