pasta with sausage & broccoli rabe

There’s veg in here, so it’s a healthy dish—at least that’s what I tell myself. Browned, crumbled sausage pairs with fresh broccoli rabe (cooked perfectly to avoid bitterness) and is tossed with a pasta of your choice. It’s all-of-the-things and a delicious meal on it’s own. Eat it the next day cold, warm, or reheated to hot and it’ll be even more flavorful!

Ingredients:
1 bunch broccoli rabe, rinsed, majority of bottom stem chopped off

1 large ice bath

1.5 lbs mixed sweet and hot loose sausage, browned, with pan drippings saved

6-8 cloves of garlic, sliced thin

1 box pasta (I used Farfalle but Cavatelli would be primo)

1 cup reserved pasta water

2 tablespoons salted butter

1 cup chicken broth

Olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, parsley

Locatelli pecorino romano cheese (or any kind)

Instructions:

Cook pasta according to al dente instructions. Reserve 1 cup of pasta water towards the end of cooking. Drain pasta and drizzle with olive oil to prevent sticking. Set aside.

After rinsing and removing broccoli rabe stems, put into a large pot of boiling water for two minutes until softened and then immediately transfer to an ice bath to stop the cooking process. Move from ice bath to strainer and then pat dry with paper towels. Once cooled, chop small.

Brown sausage on medium heat and break into small, crumbled pieces. Transfer to a bowl along with the pan drippings.

Pour 1/4 cup of olive oil in a large sautee pan (with straight sides if you have it) and add sliced garlic. Turn heat on medium low, and cook garlic until just browned. Season with salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, and parsley. (I don’t have measurements for these but I’d say less on the salt and pepper, more on the powders and parsley. Let the Italian-American Gods speak to you…).

Add in chopped broccoli rabe and cook for a few minutes until heated through.

Add chicken broth and bring to a simmer. (This helps remove any bitterness!)

Add 2 tablespoons of butter to thicken sauce and season again with a bit of salt and pepper.

Add browned sausage and pasta to the pot (you may not want to use the entire pound, so add it slowly and adjust it to the ratios of sausage to broccoli rabe to pasta that suits you).

Add in some of the pasta water (the white foamy part from the boiling pasta) to bring it all together. It should be glistening - not soaked.

Plate pasta and top with locatelli pecorino romano cheese.

Mangia!