The thing I love the most about traditional pasta dishes is that they can often come together in short order. In fact, some of my favorites are the ones where the sauce is made in the same time it takes to cook the pasta. And today we are going to make one such dish with a recipe for orecchiette with sausage and broccoli rabe.
It is a classic pasta dish from the Southern Italian region of Puglia, which is where orecchiette pasta was invented. But what makes it unique is the fact that it doesn’t use the typical tomato or cream-based sauce that one might find in most pasta recipes. Instead, the sauce is made out of a mixture of Italian sausage, broccoli rabe, cheese, and pasta water. Which might not sound like much, but when combined together forms an absolutely delicious pasta dish.
What is broccoli rabe?
Despite both the name and appearance, broccoli rabe is only slightly related to broccoli. In fact, it is a bitter green and is much closer related to either mustard greens or turnip greens. As such it mainly consists of a stalk with large green leaves and features a bitter and almost nutty flavor. And while it’s not the most commonly found ingredient at grocery stores it should be impossible to find.
That being said if you can’t find broccoli rabe you can easily swap it out with any type of bitter leafy green. Just follow the same process of parboiling the greens prior to using them in the sauce and you will still end up with a delicious meal.
Tips, Tricks & Suggestions
- While orecchiette is the traditional pasta used in this dish you can swap it out for any type of short pasta that you like or have on hand.
- Today I will be using spicy Italian sausage, however, if you aren’t a fan of spicy food then you can just as easily use mild Italian sausage instead.
- Similarly, if you are vegetarian you can omit the sausage altogether. Will it be the same? No, but you will still have a great tasting dish.
- As we stated above, broccoli rabe is typically very bitter. Luckily most of this bitter taste should be weakened from parboiling the broccoli rabe. However, if it’s still too bitter to your liking then you can always balance it out with some acidity by adding in a splash of lemon juice or vinegar.
- Try our other easy weekday pasta dishes like Penne Arrabiatta, Penne alla Vodka, Spaghetti alla Putanesca, and Orecchiette with Crookneck Squash.
Orecchiette with Sausage and Brocoli Rabe Recipe
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes
Servings: 4
Ingredients
1 Lb of Orecchiette pasta
4 Tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
½ Lb of Italian sausage, removed from casing
1 Bunch or roughly 1 to 1½ Lbs of broccoli rabe, washed and chopped into inch sized pieces
3 Cloves of garlic, minced
A pinch or two of red pepper flakes (optional)
¼ Cup of grated Parmigiano Reggiano, plus extra for garnish
Salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- Get a large pot of salted water to boil.
- Parboil the broccoli rabe: Toss the chopped broccoli rabe into the pot of boiling water and let it cook for 2 minutes.
Take the parboiled broccoli rabe out of the pot with a slotted spoon or spider and set it aside
- Let the pot of water return to a boil and add the orecchiette. Let the pasta cook in the water until al dente.
- Make the base for the sauce: While the pasta is cooking get out a walled skillet or pan and add the olive oil to it. Place it over medium-high heat, toss in the sausage, and use a spoon to break up the sausage into medium-sized crumbles. Saute the sausage until fully cooked and slightly browned, about 5 to 6 minutes.
Next, toss in the minced garlic and crushed red pepper, and continue to sautee everything for another 30 seconds. Finally, toss in the parboiled broccoli rabe and stir so that it is incorporated in with the other ingredients.
Lower the heat while you wait for the orecchiette to finish cooking.
- Finish the dish: Remove the al dente orecchiette from the pot with a slotted spoon/spider and transfer to the skillet/pan. Use a ladle to add about 1 cup of the pasta water to the skillet/pan. Raise the heat and stir all of the ingredients together until the pasta water thickens up and coats everything, about 2 to 3 minutes. Remove the skillet/pan from the heat, toss in the cheese, and stir until the cheese melts and coats everything.
Finally taste the pasta and add salt and pepper to your liking.
- Transfer the orecchiette with sausage & broccoli rabe to plates, top with some extra cheese, and enjoy immediately.
Orecchiette with Sausage and Brocoli Rabe Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 Lb of Orecchiette pasta
- 4 Tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
- ½ Lb of Italian sausage removed from casing
- 1 Bunch or roughly 1 to 1½ Lbs of broccoli rabe washed and chopped into inch sized pieces
- 3 Cloves of garlic minced
- A pinch or two of red pepper flakes optional
- ¼ Cup of grated Parmigiano Reggiano plus extra for garnish
- Salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- Get a large pot of salted water to boil.
- Parboil the broccoli rabe: Toss the chopped broccoli rabe into the pot of boiling water and let it cook for 2 minutes. Take the parboiled broccoli rabe out of the pot with a slotted spoon or spider and set it aside
- Let the pot of water return to a boil and add the orecchiette. Let the pasta cook in the water until al dente.
- Make the base for the sauce: While the pasta is cooking get out a walled skillet or pan and add the olive oil to it. Place it over medium-high heat, toss in the sausage, and use a spoon to break up the sausage into medium-sized crumbles. Saute the sausage until fully cooked and slightly browned, about 5 to 6 minutes. Next, toss in the minced garlic and crushed red pepper, and continue to sautee everything for another 30 seconds. Finally, toss in the parboiled broccoli rabe and stir so that it is incorporated in with the other ingredients. Lower the heat while you wait for the orecchiette to finish cooking.
- Finish the dish: Remove the al dente orecchiette from the pot with a slotted spoon/spider and transfer to the skillet/pan. Use a ladle to add about 1 cup of the pasta water to the skillet/pan. Raise the heat and stir all of the ingredients together until the pasta water thickens up and coats everything, about 2 to 3 minutes. Remove the skillet/pan from the heat, toss in the cheese, and stir until the cheese melts and coats everything. Finally taste the pasta and add salt and pepper to your liking.
- Transfer the pasta to plates, top with some extra cheese, and enjoy immediately.
