Orecchiette ai Broccoli. Memberships Open.
It's broccoli season!! Updated recipe. Join the olive oil club.
Buon weekend! A friendly reminder about….
Christmas (Recommended) Shipping Cutoffs
US Ground shipping: Thursday, December 15
US Air shipping: Sunday, December 18 (large orders not eligible)
Canada shipping: Thursday, December 8
Orders placed after these days *can possibly* make it to the final destination before 12/25.
Holiday Gift Guide Update
We’re updating our Holiday Gift Guide regularly! There are loads of small and woman-owned businesses in the guide. And everything from skincare to beans. We also included lots of books : )
Broccoli Season
I’m elated that broccoli is back and appears to be prettier than ever! I remember as a child my friends shying away from broccoli. Meanwhile I would grab it raw (okay dunked in ranch or hummus but we can talk about that later), steamed, or roasted and shoving it into my mouth by the handful. I’ve been a broccoli stan since day one.
My mom would sometimes bake it and serve it with melted cheddar on the top (still one of my favorites). And once she served it in a creamy chicken casserole which confused the entire family. We have roots in Panamanian, Jamaican, and American southern cuisine and were firmly a rice, beans, spice, and chicken family. The kids wanted to know what in the midwestern was a casserole? And why was it beige when there are vegetables inside? Ha!
I still love broccoli in all its forms, including casserole. But now let’s talk about my favorite part.
The Stems
In Calabria, we have a cheese truck, a mattress truck, and the broccoli truck just made its debut! What a treat. And the best part, is they sell the broccoli with so much of the stem and leaves still attached, my favorite parts.
My grandmother used to go on and on about roughage (fibrous indigestible material in food that aids the passage through the gut) and broccoli stems fall into that category. So every time I wash and cut broccoli stems I hear her in my ear.
Skyler, you need to eat your roughage!
Maybe I was a good listener or maybe I just like crunchy foods (looking at you crunchy meatballs). But I have a thing for broccoli stems and leaves. And it causes me almost physical pain when I see people throw them away. It’s top-tier soup, stew, and bean material!! And they can be stored in the freezer…
Today we’re sharing an updated orecchiette ai broccoli recipe. This recipe works best with just the florets because they melt into a super creamy sauce. We separate the steams and leaves then wash them, freeze them, and use them later in beans or a potato based soup. Depending on how tough the leaves are we let them cook for about an hour.
Orecchiette ai Broccoli 🥦 (Serves 4)
Ingredients
1 large head of broccoli, cut into florets
350 grams orecchiette
1 garlic cloves, smashed
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus some for drizzling (the Lina)
4 tbsp finely grated parm
Salt
Instructions
Bring a large pot of water to a boil, add 1 tbsp salt, add broccoli. Cook for 5 minutes.
Bring back up to a complete boil before adding the pasta. Cook until 1-2 minutes before al dente. Reserve 1 cup pasta water.
Heat a small pan on low, add olive oil and garlic. Cook for 2-3 minutes until garlic is light gold. Remove from heat.
Strain most of the pasta and broccoli and add back to the pot. Continue to cook on medium high, add the oil and garlic and some of the pasta water and stir continuously. Add more pasta water as it dries up. Cook for additional 2 minutes.
Cut the heat and add the cheese, stir, then plate and finish with a light drizzle of olive extra virgin olive oil 🥦🥦🥦
Olive Oil Memberships Are Back!
And yes they are giftable!! The olive oil club waitlist was the longest it has ever been. We are so excited to welcome new members and for some exciting new offers.
How the EXAU Olive Oil Club works…
NEW!! 10% off all orders
Available in the USA and Canada
All memberships ship quarterly (4x per year)
Members receive access to sold-out product
Upgrade or downgrade as needed
Skip or cancel anytime
Memberships are giftable!
Memberships are open from December 1 - December 31 (or until sold out). They will not reopen until March 2023.
All memberships are in stock. To join please…
Click on the membership you'd like to purchase.
Add to cart and proceed to check out!
Excelsis
2 bottles every 3 months. Just under 1 tbsp per day. Perfect for one or two people that cook regularly. Or four people that don't often cook.
Altiorem
4 bottles every 3 months. A little over 1 tbsp per day. Ideal for one or two people that love to cook, host, or gift oil regularly. Or four people that cook regularly.
Magno Valde
6 bottles every 3 months. A little over 2 tbsp per day. Great for four people that frequently cook, host, or gift oil regularly. Or six people that cook regularly.
What people have to say about their membership.
#1 olive oil and company - “A million out of ten, the best olive oil and people in the business. I'm an Exau customer for life.” -Emma
EXAU Olive Oil - “It’s the one subscription I cannot do without.” -Viola
<3 <3 <3 We’re confident there’s a membership for you!
A Note About EXAU
We are a husband and wife owned small business. And we exclusively produce high-quality extra virgin olive oil with olives grown in Calabria, Italy on family owned properties that follow organic growing practices.
We harvest and mill the olives within hours guaranteeing that our oils are as fresh as possible! Because that's what you deserve.
Existing Members
Please take a look at your payment details and shipping address on file, if you have any trouble accessing your account or need assistance take a look at our FAQ or email hello@exauoliveoil.com.
What They Said About The Stuffing
When you email or DM us you’re writing to me or Giuseppe and we do read everything. Over the past few weeks we’ve been getting some really lovely messages from people. Sharing one below.
Wow! I used your recipe (with substitutions) and it was the hit of our small family Pre-Thanksgiving Thanksgiving! Thank you for sharing your family recipes with us who love your olive oil.
I used a full loaf of Semifreddis sour batard that I cut up the night before, covered them in EXAU Avus with sweet paprika, salt and pepper…. Everything else I followed your recipe except I eyeballed the vinegar and Prosecco. Let me just say, it turned out better than expected. Thank you so so much! Can’t wait for my next 4-bottle shipment!
This message was from a club member and long time customer. Messages like this are so special and make our day. So thank you <3 Link to Thanksgiving menu below.
An Interesting Read
We recently read a fascinating piece, The Atlantic: Instagram Is Over. Social media is a big part of our lives (whether we admit it or not) but our relationship with it, espeically after the pandemic, has grown incredibly strained. It can feel really unfair when platforms change their algorithms and posts from friends, family, brands, and people you actually want to see disappear.
We spoke with the New York Times about this earlier this year. Instagram’s changes wrecked havoc on small businesses, including ours. And it’s one of the biggest reasons why we made the jump to Substack : ) Afterall, what’s the point of running this thing if we can’t share delicious things and talk about it with you?!
We’d love to hear your thoughts on this piece.
That’s all for now! Grazie mille for reading.
-Skyler & Giuseppe
WOAH. We recently hit over 100 5-star reviews on EXAUoliveoil.com!!! Thank you so much for your support and for taking the time to leave reviews for our oils, we couldn’t do this without you <3
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