One of my favorite pasta dishes takes an underrated vegetable, broccoli rabe, and makes it the star of the dish. I present, broccoli rabe and sausage pasta. This recipe is based off of one of my favorites from A Beautiful Plate.
Broccoli Rabe and Sausage Pasta
Yield: 4 Servings
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Ingredients
2 tbsp olive oil
8 ounces Hot Italian pork sausage, casings removed
5-6 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1 large bunch broccoli rabe (see Note 1)
8 to 12 ounces penne pasta
Salt
Grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese, for serving
How to Make It
- Heat 2 tbsp of olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add sausage, breaking it apart as it cooks. Once it is mostly cooked through, add garlic until fragrant and keep pan on low heat (see Note 2).
- Chop off ends of broccoli rabe. Cut broccoli rabe into 1 inch segments.
- Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Blanch chopped broccoli rabe for 1-2 minutes until wilted. Use a slotted spoon to remove broccoli rabe and transfer it to skillet with the sausage. Turn skillet up to medium heat, combine for a few minutes, and set aside.
- Bring pot of blanching water back to a boil. Cook pasta in blanching water until al dente, reserving ~1/2 cup of pasta cooking water.
- Drain pasta and add pasta, broccoli, and sausage back to the pot with the blanching water over low heat. Stir until evenly combined and water is mostly gone.
- Serve pasta with parmigiano-reggiano cheese and red pepper flakes.
Note 1: Broccoli rabe can be difficult to find at a standard grocery store. I purchase mine at Whole Foods for approximately $4.
Note 2: If you want to add more flavor to your broccoli rabe and sausage pasta, you can add sundried tomato, kalamata olives, and/or white wine while you are cooking the sausage.
