Broccoli rabe is a tasty yet slightly bitter green that might be an acquired taste. Over the years of preparing vegetarian meals in a hurry, we have expanded our taste buds to enjoy broccoli rabe. Indeed this pasta has become comfort food for us.
Some recipes recommend blanching the broccoli rabe to ameliorate the bitterness. Lately, we have skipped that step.
The ratio of broccoli rabe to pasta is important. One bunch of broccoli rabe is enough for 8 ounces of pasta. That won’t go far, so I recommend two bunches of broccoli rabe and 16 ounces of pasta.
If your audience isn’t vegetarian, cook some ground sausage, drain it, and add it to the dish. Heavenly.
2 bunches broccoli rabe
16 ounces spaghetti or linguine
3-4 tablespoons of olive oil
5 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Pecorino romano cheese
(cooked ground sausage)
Wash broccoli rabe and roughly chop.
Bring large kettle of salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for as long as package directions recommend. Drain pasta.
Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium flame. Add broccoli rabe and cook stirring frequently until wilted, about 5-6 minutes. Turn the flame down to medium-low and push the broccoli rabe to the sides of the skillet leaving a space in the middle. Add garlic and red pepper flakes and cook gently for 1-2 minutes, taking care not to let the garlic burn. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Add drained pasta to broccoli rabe and mix well.
Top with freshly grated pecorino romano cheese.