ORECCHIETTE WITH SWEET ITALIAN SAUSAGE AND BROCCOLI RABE
I love all pastas, but my all time favorite is orecchiette. Plus it translates to “little ears”, which is adorable.
Time: 20 min | Difficulty: 2/5 | Servings: 4
1. Boil Water
Bring a large pot of water to boil and prepare a bowl of ice water.
2. Crumble Sausage
If using sausage links, remove from casing and crumble. If using ground sausage, you can skip this step.
3. Prepare Broccoli Rabe
Wash your broccoli rabe, remove the bottom inch or two, and cut in quarters.
4. Blanch
Add your broccoli rabe to the boil pot of water and blanch for 2 minutes (3 at most). Drain in a colander once bright green and place immediately in a bowl of ice water and set aside.
5. Cook Orecchiette
Re-fill your pot with water and bring it to a boil. Add a generous amount of salt (your pasta should taste of the sea!) and your pasta. Cook pasta according to package directions. You want it al dente. Reserve 1 cup of pasta water.
6. Sauté Sausage
In a large sauté pan, add roughly 2 tablespoons of olive oil and cook your sausage over high heat. You want to break it up into small pieces as it cooks but try not to over-stir it so you can get some nice brown crispy bits. Once your sausage is browned, remove from heat and set aside.
7. Sauté Garlic
Add two more tablespoons of olive oil to the same pan and cook your sliced garlic until fragrant. About 1 – 2 minutes.
8. Combine
Add your sausage, broccoli, and orecchiette to the pan and toss. Add a little bit of pasta water, half of your parmesan cheese, a pinch of salt, and a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes. Stir until your pasta is coated in your sauce.
9. Plate
Divide into 4 bowls. Top with a drizzle of olive oil and fresh grated parmesan cheese. You can also top with red pepper flakes or flakey sea salt if you like.
Tip
I don’t love spicy food, so I like swapping Aleppo pepper for red pepper flakes to get the flavor without too much heat.
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