Purple & White Sprouting Broccoli with Toasted Almonds

This is so straightforward, I can barely even call it a recipe. There's just no need to mess with such a gloriously fresh and seasonal ingredient, so I say keep it simple and let the wonderful flavour of the sprouting broccoli shine through. Rather excitingly, I found white sprouting broccoli on sale at Borough Market, though I imagine that it won't have hit the supermarkets just yet, so if you can't find white, just use the more widely available purple variety.

Photography by Casey Lazonick, Prop styling by Cynthia Blackett, Food styling and recipe by myself. 

Ingredients:

1 bunch purple sprouting broccoli
1 bunch white sprouting broccoli
150g flaked almonds, toasted till golden brown in a dry frying pan
juice of half a lemon
olive oil
salt & pepper

1. Fill a large lidded saucepan with water and bring to the boil. Add a good pinch of salt. Slice any especially large broccoli florets in half length ways so they are all roughly the same size. Plunge the broccoli into the boiling water and cook for 2-3 mins, until it is slightly softened but still very aldente, and hasn't lost all of it's purple colour (the purple colour fades to dark green rapidly when cooked, but visually it's nice to retain some of that purple if you can, so don't over cook).

2. Drain the broccoli and add to a a big bowl. Drizzle with olive oil and the lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper, and give it a toss around, coating the broccoli thoroughly.

3. This can be served warm or cold. When you are ready to serve, just scatter the toasted almonds over the top and voila!