Why It Works
- Blanching broccoli rabe ensures it is tender, and utilizing the blanching water to cook dinner the pasta maximizes effectivity.
- Garlic, a tiny little bit of anchovy, and dried chiles kind a flavorful base for the sauce, together with a splash of white wine for acidity and refined sweetness that balances the bitterness of the rabe.
- Starchy cooking water helps construct an emulsified sauce, and ending the pasta within the skillet ensures the orecchiette are effectively coated and completely al dente.
This dish is a meaty variation on Puglia’s famed orecchiette con le cime di rapa. Each variations function al dente pasta tossed with bitter broccoli rabe that is been cooked down right into a sauce with olive oil, garlic, chiles, and starchy pasta cooking water. Right here, contemporary pork sausage and a splash of white wine be part of the celebration, filling in for the assertive savory punch of anchovies used within the cucina povera (“poor delicacies”) traditional. The sausage provides juicy fattiness and floral notes of fennel to the combo, whereas the candy acidity of the wine balances the chunk of the rabe. It is a richer dish, in additional methods than one.
For purists, “cime” are simply the tender leaves and florets of broccoli rabe. They’re picked from the extra fibrous stalks of the plant, that are then discarded or used for different functions. For orecchiette con le cime di rapa, we suggest following this apply, as the feel within the dish ought to come from the chew of the pasta and the crunch of the toasted breadcrumb topping, quite than the greens. However for this dish, we blanch the tender stalks in addition to the leaves and florets, in order that they find yourself with the identical gentle chew because the sausage.
Despite the fact that anchovies do not usually function in sausage-and-rabe recipes, I nonetheless wish to dissolve one or two fillets in oil together with the garlic and chiles. They supply background savoriness with out saying their presence within the dish. As with aglio e olio, the pasta finishes cooking within the “sauce,” should you can name it that, which is simply an emulsion of olive oil and the water used to cook dinner the rabe and orecchiette. As a result of the water additionally has some taste from the rapini, I like to make use of loads of it to complete the pasta, leaving the sauce looser, on the very fringe of being barely brothy. Tossed, stirred, and swirled over excessive warmth, this combination types a shiny coating for the noodles.
Whereas orecchiette con le cime di rapa is historically a no-cheese pasta, this model permits for a dairy exception. A small handful of grated salty cheese like Pecorino Romano just isn’t out of the query, offering a pointy, tangy foil to the peppery olive oil and bitter greens. After all, for many who desire to maintain the dish dairy-free, the crispy breadcrumbs used as a stand-in for cheese within the authentic will even work simply superb.
March 2021
Orecchiette con Salsiccia e Cime di Rapa (Orecchiette With Sausage and Broccoli Rabe) Recipe
Prepare dinner Mode
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- Kosher salt
- 3 tablespoons (45ml) extra-virgin olive oil, plus additional for drizzling
- 9 ounces (255g) candy or sizzling Italian sausage (about 3 hyperlinks), faraway from casing
- 3 garlic cloves (15g), minced
- 1 to 2 anchovy fillets (optionally available, see notice)
- 1/2 teaspoon pink pepper flakes
- 1/2 cup (120ml) dry white wine
- 1 pound (450g; about 2 small bunches) broccoli rabe (rapini), ends trimmed, leaves picked and separated from stalks with florets
- 12 ounces (340g) dried orecchiette
- 1 1/2 ounces (45g) finely grated Pecorino Romano, divided
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Convey a big pot of salted water to a boil. In the meantime, in a big skillet, warmth olive over medium warmth till shimmering. Utilizing clear fingers, add sausage to skillet by pinching off 1/2- to three/4-inch items and arranging in a single layer within the pan. Alternatively, add sausage to skillet , then break up into items with a picket spoon, spreading them out evenly within the pan. Prepare dinner over medium warmth, undisturbed, till backside facet is gentle golden brown, about 2 minutes. Utilizing a spoon or skinny metallic spatula, flip sausage items onto raw facet. Add garlic, anchovy (if utilizing), and pepper flakes, and proceed to cook dinner till aromatic and anchovy has dissolved, 30 seconds to 1 minute.
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Enhance warmth to medium-high and add wine. Convey to a simmer and cook dinner, swirling pan and scraping up any stuck-on bits with a picket spoon, till wine has emulsified with olive oil and combination is barely diminished, about 30 seconds. Flip off warmth.
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Add broccoli rabe stalk items (with florets connected) to boiling water and cook dinner till stalks are barely tender, 1 minute 30 seconds to 2 minutes. Utilizing a spider skimmer, drain effectively and switch to a plate. Add rabe leaves to boiling water and cook dinner till barely tender, about 1 minute. Drain, whereas conserving boiling water within the pot; switch rabe leaves to plate with blanched stalks, conserving them separate. Utilizing a pointy knife, lower stalks and florets into 1 1/2-inch items, then mix with blanched leaves; set rabe apart.
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Add orecchiette to boiling water and cook dinner, stirring ceaselessly for first 30 seconds to forestall pasta from sticking. As soon as pasta has cooked for five minutes, switch 1 cup (240ml) of pasta cooking water to skillet together with broccoli rabe; proceed cooking pasta. Return skillet to excessive warmth and convey to a boil, swirling and stirring pan always till cooking water emulsifies with olive oil combination, 1 to 2 minutes.
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In the meantime, proceed cooking pasta till it’s softened on the outside, however effectively shy of al dente and nonetheless raw within the heart (about 3 minutes lower than the package deal instructions). Utilizing a spider skimmer, switch pasta to skillet. Alternatively, drain pasta utilizing a colander or fine-mesh strainer, ensuring to order at the very least 2 cups (475ml) pasta cooking water.
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Prepare dinner on excessive warmth, stirring and tossing quickly, till pasta is al dente and sauce is thickened and coats noodles, 2 to three minutes, including extra pasta cooking water in 1/4 cup (60ml) increments as wanted. At this level, the sauce ought to simply pool across the edges of the pan; it would proceed to tighten up within the time it takes to plate and serve, so be sure it is slightly looser than the best serving consistency.
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Take away from warmth, add 3/4 of grated cheese, and stir quickly to include. Season with salt to style. Serve instantly, passing remaining grated cheese on the desk.
Particular Tools
Large skillet, large pot, spider skimmer or fine-mesh strainer
Notes
Anchovy provides savory depth to the sauce, however you’ll be able to omit them should you’re not a fan.
Make-Forward and Storage
This dish is greatest loved instantly. Leftovers may be refrigerated in an hermetic container for as much as 3 days.
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