RECIPE: 15-minute orecchiette with broccoli rabe
Many Italian restaurants serve some version of orecchiette with rapini (also called broccoli rabe). This famous dish from Puglia combines chewy “little ear” pasta with the leafy crucifer that is an ancestor to our modern broccoli. Typically the preparation involves sausage or anchovy and a bit of hot red pepper.
During my time as a restaurant critic for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, I tasted too many attempts that missed the mark because the chefs trod too lightly with the rapini’s angry, in-your-face bitterness. These greens, served blanched and bright green, too often tasted like chewing on aspirin against a backdrop of bland pasta.
When dealing with bitter flavors, I try to think like a bartender. Bitters are essential to cocktails, but they have to be balanced with equally strong flavors. In a cocktail, that means sugar, acid and alcohol. In a pasta, it means salt, fat, hot spice and (yeah, that word) umami.
Over the years, I’ve developed a recipe that requires a small shopping list at a good supermarket and comes together with one pot and one pan. Any orecchiette works, though the De Cecco brand is commonly available and great. Likewise, many markets with good produce departments stock excellent Andy Boy rapini (marketed as broccoli rabe) from California. Depending on the season and whether you buy the organic or conventionally farmed product, it can be more or less bitter. That leaves it to you to turn the dials on the other ingredients to get the bitterness in check. Both anchovies and grating cheese have umami to spare.
There is one ingredient that makes this dish sing for me, and that is Calabrian hot red peppers packed in oil. They’re easy to find in an Italian market or order online; however, red pepper flakes work as an alternative.
- 1 box dried orecchiette (12-14 ounces)
- 1 bunch rapini (broccoli rabe)
- 3 tablespoons good olive oil
- 1 tin (2 ounces) oil-packed anchovy fillets
- 4-5 garlic cloves, minced or crushed
- 1-2 whole Calabrian oil-packed chiles, destemmed and chopped finely, or 1/2 teaspoon or more red chile flakes (optional)
- 2 ounces freshly grated Parmesan or hard pecorino cheese
- Salt to taste
- Get an ample pot of well-salted water boiling for the pasta. Wash the rapini and trim the tough ends of the stalks. Chop the bunch crosswise into 1-inch lengths — leaves, florets and stalks — and set aside.
- Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large, high-sided skillet over medium heat until it shimmers, then add 6-7 anchovy fillets (leaving the rest in the tin for another use), garlic and hot pepper. Stir until the anchovy breaks up and the garlic is soft and fragrant but not browned, about 1-2 minutes. Turn off heat.
- Cook the pasta according to package instructions. Halfway through cooking, add the rapini. Before draining, save a cup or so of pasta water. Add the drained pasta mixture to the pan and stir well to mix. Add water as necessary to make the texture turn from oily to sleek and shiny. You may (believe it or not) want to add a pinch of salt to balance the flavors or stir in some of the cheese. If the rapini is very bitter, don’t skimp on the cheese. Serves 4-6.
Nutritional information
Per serving: Per serving, based on 4: 496 calories (percent of calories from fat, 31), 20 grams protein, 67 grams carbohydrates, 4 grams fiber, 17 grams total fat (4 grams saturated), 24 milligrams cholesterol, 789 milligrams sodium.Read more stories like this by liking Atlanta Restaurant Scene on Facebook, following @ATLDiningNews on Twitter and @ajcdining on Instagram.
