Parmesan-encrusted broccoli with lemon

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I love broccoli, especially when it's crisp-tender like in my mom's stir-fry. When I was an undergrad, I bought a book called 101 Ways to Fix Broccoli. It's very sweet; the author Betty Price developed 101 recipes for her dad who wanted to eat broccoli every day after being diagnosed with cancer.

These days, my favourite way to fix broccoli is according to chef Tyler Florence's recipe in Tyler's Ultimate. It's crunchy and covered in a crispy, salty parmesan crust.

One head of broccoli serves two people. I cut it lengthwise into four spears. I blanched them for a couple of minutes in salted, boiling water, drained them and plunged them into an ice bath.

I arranged them in one layer in the bottom of a baking dish and sprinkled over some grated parmesan, although you could use any cheese or a different "hard" cheese, such as gruyère, grana padano or fontina. I baked the spears in a 400 F oven for eight minutes, and then put them under the broiler for two minutes to brown the cheese.

Serve with a squirt of lemon. It will raise them to an even tastier dimension!