The going gets tough. The tough cook broccoli.

This week isn't starting well. I'd achieved a decent mental state much of last week and the weekend; resigned to the loss of fun and freedoms and travel, but still feeling useful and like this could be sustained for a couple of months if need be. This week has started with a steady trickle of bad news, which is when being in a job at the centre of things can really suck: you can see the badness clouds a-gatherin'. That sense of purpose is ebbing.

And also, things I was looking forward to are being cancelled into July. I am not surprised (I was being patronising only yesterday about people who thought the lockdown was for a few weeks only, this is a marathon not a sprint blah blah), but it's still a sock in the gut. My small flat is bearable in all weathers other than a heatwave, at which point it is absolutely vile. I can't begin to imagine that, still stuck inside.

So, yeah. The ups and downs are firmly downs tonight. And then I opened the veg drawer and discovered my broccoli was really, really old. Although I'm shopping much more than most of you, it's not really with an eye to my own food coming in in sensible order, I'm snagging what I can around carting stuff over to my parents. I don't think this has been hanging around over a week, but also I don't think it was in good nick even when I bought it.

Calabrese definitely should not be this yellow

But! This is an opportunity, not a down. Making broccoli interesting is a thing I know how to do. Broccoli ripassati is one of those newspaper recipes that you try once and then never forget - luckily online rather than a shred of newsprint, so do read Rachel Roddy on how to do it properly. You need to be ready to cook it long and slow - abandon all thoughts of al dente here.

Boil first, 5-7 minutes till it's losing the integrity of each floret a bit. You want to soften it.

Basic boiling and already it's less depressing

The good bit involves oil and garlic, as does most happy cooking. I was saying to Paula over cocktail hour that my basic cookery rules are
1. Add lemon
2. Add booze
3. Add butter (and cheese)
But there really should be
4. Add garlic

(Oil fits instead of butter, or as well, where appropriate.)

You cannot go wrong with these, except morally or in health terms. And even then, I reckon you're all right with lemon.

Still a bit holding its own shape here. Keep cooking until it is tamed

Just keep cooking your broccoli over a fairly low heat, with plenty of chopped garlic and as much olive oil as your conscience allows. I wanted it as a side tonight, but it does beautifully as a pasta sauce, maybe with a smidge of chilli and some parmesan. Rachel R suggests many other ways to use it, but basically, it's a way to make your greens deliciously wicked.

This Monday, that is precisely what I needed.