Whenever I have too little time and too few ingredients on hand — or when I’ve been eating too much meat — I cook up some broccoli pasta.

Which means I make it for dinner about once every 10 days.

It’s delicious, healthy, inexpensive and easy to prepare. The recipe, in fact, is a cinch, consisting of just a few ingredients — pasta, chicken broth, Parmigiano-Reggiano, olive oil and a large head of the namesake crucifer. I always have four of those ingredients in house, so all I need to do is run out and pick up some broccoli and I’m good to go.

Another of this recipe’s charms is its flexibility. I can swap in vegetable broth for chicken broth, spaghetti for the angel hair pasta, and any other grated hard cheese for the Parmigiano-Reggiano. Sometimes I’ll even lose the broccoli in favor of roasted cauliflower or Brussels sprouts.

But what makes the dish so popular in my house is its comfort factor. I serve it soupy, so you can slurp the chicken broth along with the strands of pasta. I also make sure there’s some crusty bread within easy reach, which helps to mop up the broth not captured with a spoon.

This dish is so economical it’s almost ecological. I use all of the broccoli, not just the florets. For years I used to trash the stems, but the stems are also plenty edible. Just peel off the skin, cut them up, and you’re ready.

Cold Weather Broccoli Pasta

Start to finish: 30 minutes

Servings: 4

1 large head broccoli (about 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 pounds)

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Kosher salt

1 to 2 teaspoons red pepper flakes, or to taste

1 quart low-sodium chicken stock

1/2 pound whole-wheat capellini pasta

1 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Heat the oven to 450 degrees. Position one of the racks in the top third of the oven.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil.

Cut the broccoli, including the stems, into 2-inch pieces. Peel any thick stem pieces to remove the thick skin.

On a rimmed baking sheet, arrange the broccoli in a single layer. Drizzle with the oil, then sprinkle with salt to taste and toss well. Place on the top oven rack and roast for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the broccoli is crisp tender and slightly brown at the edges. Transfer the broccoli to a large skillet, add the pepper flakes and the chicken broth, then bring to a boil over medium-high heat.

When the water in the large pot comes to a boil, add a hefty pinch of salt and the pasta. Stir and cook for 2 minutes, or until the pasta is limp but not quite cooked through. Drain the pasta and transfer it to the broccoli pan. Simmer for 2 minutes, or until the pasta is al dente. Stir in the Parmigiano-Reggiano and salt to taste. Ladle into shallow soup bowls and serve with crusty bread.