A bundle of broccolini looks a lot like a bunch of tiny heads of broccoli atop long stems. Sweeter than broccoli with stems that are more tender, broccolini is actually a hybrid, a cross between broccoli and gai lan, a vegetable also known as Chinese broccoli. It was developed in 1993 by a Japanese seed company and the word “broccolini” is a registered trademark.
This is the second year Paula Guilbeau of Cumming’s Heirloom Gardens has grown broccolini. She puts in a crop every spring and fall, succession planting about 400 feet total each season. This year she’s trying to extend the season, experimenting with a summer crop by growing it in a hoop house where she can keep the temperatures a little cooler than in a field.
Guilbeau takes her produce to the Dunwoody Green Market on Wednesdays and the Peachtree Road Farmers Market on Saturdays and sells online at the Cumming Harvest at locallygrown.net and to restaurants. She also offers a community-supported agriculture box to her customers. She gardens on three of her leased 16 acres and has five hoop houses as well.
She likes growing broccolini for several reasons.
“Broccoli can be so boring and people gravitate towards something that’s unusual and cute, which broccolini definitely is. I’m also impatient, don’t like waiting for broccoli to make that large crown,” she said. Broccolini provides a little something different for her CSA box. Many of her customers now wait anxiously for it to come into season.
Guilbeau’s favorite way to serve broccolini is as a sauté, topped with toasted bread crumbs seasoned with Parmesan and garlic. It’s sweet enough to be served raw as well.
When you get your broccolini home, refrigerate it in a tightly sealed plastic bag where it should keep for a week or so.
At local farmers markets
Peachtree Road Farmers Market will not be open Saturday, June 2. Instead the market is hosting a Friday night market, June 1, 4-8 p.m. including an Iron Man-style cooking competition.
Cooking demos:
6 p.m. Thursday, May 31. Chef Seth Freedman of Ruby Root Connections. East Atlanta Village Farmer's Market, Atlanta. www.farmeav.com
9:30 a.m. Saturday, June 2. Chef Bennett Hollberg of Davio, working with bread. Morningside Farmers Market, Atlanta. www.morningsidemarket.com
11:30 a.m. Sunday, June 3. Chef Carvel Grant Gould of Canoe. Grant Park Farmers Market, Atlanta. www.grantparkmarket.org
For sale
Vegetables and fruit: arugula, Asian greens, asparagus, beets, blackberries, blueberries, broccoli, broccoli raab, broccolini, cabbage, carrots, celery, chard, collards, cucumbers, dandelion, endive, escarole, fava beans, fennel, frisée, garlic, green beans, green onions, herbs, kale, kohlrabi, lettuce, mushrooms, mustard greens, onions, pea tendrils, peaches, plums, potatoes, radicchio, radishes, snow peas, sorrel, spinach, strawberries, sugar snap peas, summer squash, tomatoes, turnips, zucchini
From local reports
Broccolini Galette
Hands on: 10 minutes
Total time: 30 minutes
Serves: 6
1 single pie crust (store-bought or homemade)
1 cup part skim ricotta
1 bunch green onions, roots discarded, roughly chopped
Pinch red pepper flakes
Salt and pepper
1 bunch broccolini (about 8 ounces), ends trimmed, rinsed
6 ounces fresh mozzarella, cut into 1/4-inch slices
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
Roll out pie crust to approximately 14-inches round. Arrange on prepared baking sheet. Sides may hang over.
In the bowl of a food processor, combine ricotta, green onions and pepper flakes. Process until onions are finely chopped. Taste for seasoning. Spoon ricotta filling in a 10-inch circle in the center of the pie crust.
In a quart-size measuring cup, steam rinsed broccolini by covering with a round of waxed or parchment paper and cooking on high about 3 minutes or until just wilted. Remove from microwave and arrange broccolini over ricotta filling. Top with mozzarella slices and fold edges of pie crust over the filling, leaving the center open. Bake until crust is golden brown, about 20 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Per serving: 292 calories (percent of calories from fat, 56), 14 grams protein, 18 grams carbohydrates, 2 grams fiber, 18 grams fat (8 grams saturated), 38 milligrams cholesterol, 374 milligrams sodium.
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