Easy Cheesy Broccoli Melts Recipe

I found a really great appetizer recipe the other day that looked like it was a snap to put together, so I added the ingredients to my shopping list and picked everything up from the grocery store. Since we ate leftovers for last night’s dinner, I decided to add these broccoli melts to the mix. They were just as I expected – flavorful, had a great texture and surprisingly filling.

The Recipe

This recipe is insanely simple to prepare. You’ll spend most of the time on prepping the broccoli. Chopping broccoli into small pieces is never fun because everything sticks to your hands, but once that’s finished, everything is pretty smooth. What you’ll end up with are about eight to ten toasted pieces of bread with garlic and lemon infused broccoli topped off with some melted provolone cheese. I wanted to eat multiple pieces last night, but as I mentioned above, these things are pretty filling. I think I only got to two of them. Perhaps we’ll tackle the rest tonight.

Ingredients

Makes 8-10 Pieces

1 Pound Fresh Broccoli
2 Tablespoons Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
3 Teaspoons Garlic, Minced
1/4 Teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes
2 Tablespoons Lemon Jiuce
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
1/2 Cup Parmesan Cheese, Grated
4-5 Pieces Provolone Cheese, Cut in Half
8-10 Slices of Italian Bread

Step-by-Step Instructions

I’d like to thank Smitten Kitchen for this recipe. It was super easy, very tasty and I was happy with it.

Prep & Cook the Broccoli

Cut the large stem from the piece of broccoli, if it has a stem. If you’re dealing with just the crown, trim apart each smaller piece of broccoli and then cut everything up fairly finely. I’d say about 1/4 inch pieces. Then, peel the stem and cut that into the same size pieces as well.

After that, warm a large skillet over medium heat. Add the oil, broccoli, 1/2 cup of water, garlic, red pepper flakes, lemon juice and salt to the skillet and cover. Let the liquid in the pan simmer to soften up the broccoli for about five minutes and then remove the cover and cook for about five more minutes while stirring a few times. The broccoli should be cooked by that point. Go ahead and add in the Parmesan cheese and stir everything well.

Assemble the Pieces

Place the slices of Italian bread on a large baking sheet. Then, divide the broccoli mixture between each slice of bread. After that, top each with a piece of provolone.

Melt the Melts

Turn your broiler on low and then slide the baking sheet in the oven. Be sure one of the oven racks is about six inches away from the top of the oven. Keep your eye on things and when you see the bread begin to toast and the cheese begin to brown, remove the tray and turn off the heat. This step should last about eight minutes, give or take.

The Final Broccoli Melts

I’d like to experiment with this recipe a bit and perhaps fold together one full piece of provolone for each piece of bread and melt things that way. That would add a thicker layer of cheese on top. These melts are great the way they are, but keep in mind, if you love cheese, double up on top. Anyway, if you try this recipe out, please let me know your thoughts in the comment section down below. Thanks for reading!