Broccolini with Scallions
This is a fantastic way to enjoy broccolini resulting in a big bowl of green! The broccolini is tossed with big croutons, lots of sliced scallions, mozzarella, toasted almonds, and a hit of serrano pepper.
Broccolini is the tender, stalky, baby alternative to broccoli in your kitchen. If you’re wondering how to cook and enjoy it, this recipe is an easy winner. The backstory is that my friend Malinda has a real knack for making big vegetable platters and salads. Remember the fennel salad in Super Natural Every Day? That was hers. We were at her house for dinner and she made a broccolini situation I absolutely loved. I helped myself to three servings. There were blanched lengths of broccolini, big shards of homemade croutons, creamy pockets of burrata, and toasted almond slices.
Broccolini with Scallions: Inspiration
Eating with Malinda was a reminder of how good certain things are. Sometimes I forget that big, rustic homemade croutons are worth making. And burrata or mozzarella? It's great in salady things and veg-platters - it doesn't have to be summer, and you don't have to include tomatoes. Things like that. Ideas like these get pushed out of my brain from time to time and it’s nice to get reminders and inspiration from friends. Malinda and I chatted in the kitchen before dinner about dressing for the broccolini (and broccoli/broccolini in general). She mentioned she likes to accent hers with a bit of anchovy when there aren't vegetarians around. I told her I often do the lemon zest/red pepper flake combo when I'm throwing broccoli together on a weeknight. And as that sentence was coming out of my mouth, I thought, wow, what a yawn. At home I would eventually build on M’s broccolini with lots of scallions, some serrano chile, and lots of toasted almonds. So good.
What Makes Broccolini Special?
Similar to broccoli, but with long tender, stalks, broccolini is mild tasting (compared to broccoli raab), can be quick to cook, and is nutrient-packed. You might see it in some places named baby broccoli. Broccoli raab (also know as rapini) is another thing altogether, more closely related to turnips than to broccoli. Broccoli raab is more bitter, peppery and strong but can be prepared in a similar way to both broccoli and broccolini.
How to Cook Broccolini
Broccolini is easy to work with. And there are many ways to cook it — braise, sauté, blanch, grill, roast. In this recipe I have you boil the broccolini, but you can certainly make a version using roasted broccolini, or grilled broccolini.
- To boil broccolini: Prepare an ice bath. Boil the broccolini in salted water for about a minute, or less if the broccolini is young and very tender. Plunge into the ice water bath, or run under cold water, to stop the cooking.
- To bake broccolini: Heat oven to 375°F, Place broccolini on a baking sheet, toss with a splash of olive oil, sprinkle with salt, and bake until edges have browned and crisped, tossing once or twice along the way.
- To grill broccolini: Toss broccolini with a bit of olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Arrange on the hottest part of the grill and cook until they crisp and brown, 3 to 5 minutes.
- To steam broccolini: Bring a couple inches of water to a simmer in the bottom of a steamer. Arrange broccolini in steamer basket(s). Cook for a few minutes, or until broccolini is tender and bright.
What Else to Serve with Broccolini
I often cook broccolini to use as the vegetable component to the rest of a meal For example:
- It’s great on top of this vegan ramen, especially baked or grilled. The bit of char flavor is chef's kiss.
- Broccolini is great as a pizza topping, I usually give it a quick blanch in boiling water first, shock it cold in some ice water and then use it as a pizza topping from there.
- Grilled to put on top of bruschetta.
- Baked into a sheet pan frittata, and then used as a component in a frittata sandwich.
More Broccoli and Broccolini Recipes
You can basically swap in broccolini for the broccoli in any of these recipes.
- Roasted Broccoli
- Braised Broccoli with Orange and Parmesan
- Double Broccoli Quinoa
- Broccoli Apple Salad
- all broccolini recipes
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Broccolini with Scallions
Make a meal of this by introducing a hard boiled egg on the side. You can chop and sprinkle one over each plate. Or, work some chopped egg into the dressing. As far as the dressing is concerned, I have you make more dressing than you'll likely use, in part because it's nice to have a bit of leftover on hand throughout the week. You can try to use burrata cheese here in place of the mozzarella - as a treat. Just know it can be a bit tricky though, because sometimes it loses all structure, which makes it difficult to work into a salad like this. https://www.101cookbooks.com/how-to-make-hard-boiled-eggs/
- 1 lb / 16 oz / 450 g broccolini, trimmed, and each stalk halved
- 3 bunches scallions, trimmed and thinly sliced
- 1 small serrano chile pepper, deveined, seeded and minced
- 1/2 cup / 120 ml extra virgin olive oil
- fine grain sea salt
- 3 big handfuls of big, rustic croutons
- a squeeze of fresh lemon juice
- 1 cup / 4 oz / 115 g sliced almonds, toasted
- 4 - 6 oz fresh mozzarella cheese, torn into big chunks
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Fill a big pot with water and bring to a boil. Salt the water well and cook the broccolini briefly, about a minute, or long enough to take a bit of the snap out of the stalks. Drain, run under cold water to stop the cooking (or use an ice bath), and pat dry with a clean cloth. Set aside.
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Combine the scallions, serrano pepper, olive oil, and a couple pinches of salt in a small saucepan. Bring to a sizzle, stirring all the while, and remove from heat. Stir in a squeeze of lemon juice.
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To assemble the salad, just before serving, place the broccolini and croutons in a large serving bowl. Scoop about 1/2 of the green onions into the bowl, allowing most of the oil to drain off. Toss well and continue to add more green onions until everything is coated to your liking. Have a taste at this point to get a sense of whether you need to adjust the seasoning at all - with more salt or lemon juice. Add the almonds and toss, then one last (gentle) toss after adding the mozzarella.
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Use the leftover oil (refrigerate) to cook eggs, drizzled over potatoes, drizzled into soup, etc.
Serves 4 - 6.
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Comments
Heidi, this was FANTASTIC. Made it tonight with some chicken on the side (for my omni partner) and it was so wonderful and spring-y! Thanks.
I am guilty of the red pepper and lemon rut, so I will definitely give this one a whirl!
By now you feel like one of my best friends. I read your blog weekly and make just about every single recipe you post. I made this tonight and my husband and I are NUTS about it! I made my own croutons for the first time ever, and I’m converted! I added a little dijon and sea salt to the olive oil (didn’t I see that in another one of your recipes) and the mustard was the perfect accent. Keep up your awesome life.
This looks really good! I might throw in some escarole for added substance to it all. Maybe even cauliflower.
I like how simple the whole thing comes together. Nothing like coming up with a dish that normal people can enjoy with normal ingredients.
It´s very nice with those reminders – or else I tend to get stuck in my routines!
This salad looks, and sounds great! Reminds me – must make croutons….
I just finished making and eating this for lunch. It is DELIGHTFUL. May add diced, dried cranberries when I make it for my family.
I fixed the broccolini salad for dinner last night and it turned out really well. I never expected the words “Wow, this is a great salad” to come out of my boyfriend’s mouth. I subbed pumpkin seeds for almonds because I had them on hand and tomorrow will add some hearts of palm to the leftovers to mix it up.
This turned out so well for me! I added some orange zest and shoyu, exchanged fresh soft tofu for the mozzarella, and put it over soba noodles, and well, ended up with something else entirely, but it was inspired by this and it was fantastic!
Love this!
Great Salad. I have some broccoli rabe that I will try in this salad.
Congratulations on your James Beard nomination!
Another gorgeous salad to add to the spring and summer list.. Spring is just about arriving here..perfect timing!.
Your photos are so nice they make me want to eat in silence. And I’m not talking this comment I’m whispering 🙂
Lovely.
Made this last night & blogged about it today. Hands down, my favorite salad EVAH. Thank you!!
Broccolini is a revelation that should have come sooner to me. Love this mix, and love that first photo too!
I’m wondering about the amount of scallion. Three bunches seems like a lot and I’m a little worried about being overwhelmed. Is that the dominant flavor? I’m making for guests this evening. I’m a big fan and have had much success with many of your recipes. Thanks.
They collapse down quite a bit Beverly. And because you add them in stages at the end, you can add as many (or few) as you like. Enjoy!
I made this salad last night, but with mesclun mix instead of broccolini, since I had it on hand. It was absolutely DELICIOUS. I always want to have some of that oil mixture in my fridge from now on.
I am loving just tender broccoli I in warm Autumn salads here in Australia at he moment. So this is yet more lovely inspiration for this delicious ingredient!
The photographs inspired me while at the farmers market this weekend, so I treated myself to burrato produced nearby in Leesburg, Virginia, a bunch of tender Tuscan kale and what most of us would think of as trimmings: florets from Red Russian kale which resemble broccolini. With red spring onions and shards torn from a loaf of Irish brown bread, a very large bowl of this salad made for a very satisfying lunch!
Sounds delicious!
This is why I keep reading your recipes: yes, lemon zest & red pepper flake is delicious, but you’re always trying to create something new! Your passion is infectious 🙂
xo
It looks delicious! I love the idea of adding a hard boiled egg. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
I’ve never had broccolinis before! looks delish.
I love bread salads where vegetables star and bread supports. I’ve found cornbread is a winner for salads – might be a fun twist on this salad. Lovely as always Heidi. 🙂
Oooh! This salad looks wonderful. Broccolini is a favorite of mine, and I love the idea of making it the star of the meal. Wonderful!
Yum. Love the idea of using olive or walnut bread for the croutons.
Made this on Saturday and got a big thumbs up from my husband. Had to google scallions though – we call them spring onions here downunder!
I have quite a bit of roasted thin asparagus spears left from Easter dinner. I think I will make a cousin of this salad using that! Yum!! Thanks for the inspiration.
Honestly, this looks like one of the greatest salad recipes ever. I love salads and the color/texture/flavor combination in this one is nuts! Can’t wait to try.
I’m going for it – using the purple sprouting broccoli from the garden, but because there isn’t quite enough, adding sprouting kale and some broccoli rabe because it looked fresher than the broccolini at the store. I know it will taste a little different, but we’ll see how it goes!
Yum! I’ve been needing some broccolini inspiration. And that dish is a charmer- is it a vintage pie plate?
Broccolini in a salad sounds delish, I usually eat it plain with roasted garlic so this is a nice way to change it up.
I could just go for a bowl of those croutons. They look super delicious!
Made this as a side dish for an Easter Saturday dinner. It was wonderful. I used mozzerella whips and they were thin enough to melt into the broccolini. I also used Penzey’s Sunny Spain seasoning–cracked pepper and lemon–and some roasted garlic along with the peppers and scallions. Very flavorful. Thanks Heidi!
Mmmm! This was so good! We made it for supper tonight.
I made croutons from homemade dark rye bread, and followed the recipe from your cauliflower soup recipe for croutons–my very favorite way to make them!
And the best news is that my partner who generally doesn’t like raw broccoli salads liked broccolini cooked for just one minute. Success!
This sounds delicious! My fav flavours for broccoli/broccolinni is loads of fresh garlic heated in the pan with chilli flakes and dried basil leaves. Stiring through the blanced broccoli at the end. Sometimes I throw in some cherry tomatoes as well. So easy and super tasty! Will be trying your recipe soon
i really wanna have that right now! looks so good
Heidi, see Ottolenghi’s guardian column today! My face lit up when I opened my paper this morning! (p.s. Must grab the UK edition of your book – congrats) x
a nudge needed, indeed! all of a moment, i’m wondering why i’ve restricted my buffalo mozzarella to summers and tomatoes and pizza. no more! thanks, heidi.
Perfect Heidi… our broccolini is growing beautiful and tastes better than anything in the stores! Thank you for sharing.
I am trying this as soon as I get home tonight! I actually have everything needed!
Love, love your recipes. I’ll try a version of this Sunday, when I’m having a lovely day at home. Happy Easter!
Beautiful!!!
I have had broccolini and really like its taste…
A quick question Heidi, can we use broccolini raw like may be thinly slicing the stem and keeping the florets small…? Or it really needs a little steam/hot water bath to get little tender? Lovely Read as always…
Hi Reem, I feel like it needs at least a flash cooking of some kind to take the raw edge off.
Hi Heidi, So happy you liked the salad. Your version is a lot prettier, and I love the idea of scallions, will try that next time.
This is also one of my favorite summer salads, lovely with all kinds of heirloom tomatoes in place of the broccolini, and even bigger croutons!
Thanks Malinda – I think your cheese was better! The burrata I bought was really loose and I switched up to regular mozzarella at the last minute.
Beautiful! May I borrow your kitchen for a day? The other day I went and bought a marble finish wall paper which I think I’m gonna use on my dining table for some photography experiments!
I adore broccoli and also enjoy using it in salads….your salad looks quite inviting and I’m sure tastes very good.
I’m feeling quite exciting about trying this with purple sprouting broccoli which is all over my local farmers market at the moment and which I just love. Thanks for the idea!
Yet another recipe that I want to try right away!
this looks soooo good.
i’m making this!!
This sounds great and looks beautiful. A wonderful meal for an early spring day! Thank you!
This sounds so spot on for what I’m craving right now! I think I might just make this for Easter this Sunday… I’m the only vegetarian in the family so I love to wow them with healthy delicious meals. Thank you!
These are like all of my favorite foods in one salad – sounds wonderful!
It’s funny how our ideas of what a salad should be limit our creativity without us even noticing it- mozzarella needs tomatoes, for instance. I like how you broke out of the routine with the dressing, and broccolini is one of my favorite vegetables.
This sounds delicious. I haven’t made my own croutons – I like that idea!
What a fabulous salad to celebrate Spring! I plan to make this part of our Easter lunch on Sunday. Love the addition of eggs to make it a meal. Makes it more Easter-y too, don’t you think? Thanks for sharing.
Would Kale Raabe work in place of the the broccolini?
The combination looks absolutely lovely! I can see why you’d have three servings! 🙂
I feel like I should know the answer to this…but is broccolini the same as broccoli rabe?
Hi Michelle – they’re different. Broccoli rabe can be quite bitter (in a good way).
I’ve had some combo of broccoli & mozzarella rattling around in my head for a while and just haven’t gotten around to playing with it. This salad is about to become a summer staple for me – the burrata and the croutons are swoonworthy. Thanks, Heidi. 🙂
Loving the sound and look of this one Heidi! Thanks to you and Melinda 🙂
agreed! what a simple list of ingredients but I would never think to put them together- sounds and looks perfect!
This sounds so yummy! Anything with burrata!
Wow I am sure this tasted awesome.
Looks reeeeallly good!
I am leaning towards the anchovy myself. As I am not eating wheat of any kind I wonder how to get that mouth-feel of bread in the salad … and I confess I have never heard of Burrata cheese.
I laughed as I read, “And as that sentence was coming out of my mouth, I thought, wow, what a yawn.” I’m relieved to hear you experience a rut every now and then (even if red pepper and lemon zest is a pretty reliable winner)! And I’m looking forward to trying out this recipe soon.
Haven’t seen broccolini yet at the farmer’s market this year…but I’m definitely on the hunt. This recipe looks amazing!
This is one of my most favorite posts you’ve done in a long time!! For many reasons. One of them being the mention of anchovy even though you are vegetarian. I know many of us readers aren’t true vegetarians but still love, love, love your recipes and blog. Everything, for the most part, is so adaptable. So now my question is this, what direction did your broccolini/broccoli conversation go in? I’m assuming broccoli would be just fine in this salad as well? I plan to make this this wknd, and also add a little bit of sliced grapes for a bit of a twist. I’ve been on a fruit/veggie combo bender lately!:)
Do you have a fav recipe for croutons?? Or a fav type of bread that you use? I don’t generally eat bread so we don’t have it just laying around waiting to be used for croutons. Still…..curious what you would use.
Hi Alexis, I typically tear rustic day old bread into bite-sized pieces, toss it with a few glugs of olive oil, then spread out on a baking sheet in a single layer. Bake at 350 until well toasted. I usually have some sort of whole grain bread around, but like making these with olive or walnut bread as well.
This salad looks so healthy and tasty. I love adding an egg to salads, great idea. The light streaming in the windows is just beautiful too.
It’s such a great time of year for a salad like this! I actually made a salad this evening with fennel, but I love your recipe with broccolini and hearty croutons. The salad looks appetizing and healthy!
Love the looks of this one…I am a huge broccoli fan and love it just about every which way there is.
Your place settings, at the table, with the light streaming in a bit…so beautiful.
Hurrah for inspiring friends… a beautiful combination of flavours. A meal that makes you feel good.
Sounds lovely! I had broccolini just the other day and didn’t want to share it. It’s just so tasty. 🙂
Mmm, fresh broccolini and huge rustic croutons ~ delicious. The scallion addition sounds brilliant.
Now that I’ve seen the photo, I’ll fixate on it until I can eat it. Thank you, 39 weeks of pregnancy. And Heidi! 🙂
Big, rustic, homemade croutons are totally worth making! They look like they add such a heartiness to this dish 🙂 I would probably make it with burrata because I love how creamy it is. Can’t wait to try this!
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