The night broccoli beat shawarma

Not just any broccoli… Parmesan roasted broccoli with lemon.

Things are changing in the Mr’s diet. He’s upped his fruit and veg intake. And he sometimes (Ok once) turns down dessert. Although this Friday when I asked what he wanted for dinner he suggested shawarma (some habits die hard).

I suggested broccoli. And I didn’t even get an eye roll.

Admittedly I did mention the magic word: Parmesan. And when he asked if we’d have this with something else, I said we could have it as a side to pasta with pesto. Shawarma forgotten.

And this unknown dish became the star of our plates. It certainly outshone the shop-bought pesto, which was gluten-free and frankly flavour-free too. It’s super simple to make, and while it’s roasting away, you can get on with preparing anything else you want to serve it. It’s got that crispy salty cheesy bite, like the burnt edges of your lasagna with a nice refreshing  flavour. It even got a high-five hit from the Mr, which means that if he suggests shawarma again I have a fail-safe backup plan. And I think it might convert my brother (the man who only eats potatoes and peas) into a broccoli fan.

It is THAT good.

Ingredients for 2 people

1 head of broccoli

Generous splash of olive oil to coat the broccoli for roasting

Good pinch of salt and pepper

¾ cup of grated Parmesan

Half a lemon

Method

Preheat your oven to 220

Cut your broccoli up into florets – not too chunky, as you want them to roast up quick and even.

Put them on a baking sheet and give them a generous splash of olive oil and season well.

Roast them for 10-15 minutes

Remove the broccoli from the oven and sprinkle over the Parmesan.

Return this to the oven and roast for another 20-25 minutes or until it looks nice and crisp.

When you’re ready to serve it, give the broccoli a good squeeze of lemon.