Broccoli Rabe, Sausage and Cannellini Beans with Orecchiete Pasta
This is one of my all time favorites! I can eat this every day. It is a one dish wonder! It’s got the sausage, greens, beans and pasta! I make this with broccoli rabe or some call it rapini. Lately my store doesn’t always have it, so when they do, I have this on the brain.
Here’s the deal with broccoli rabe. It can be bitter. I happen to like the bitter taste. Italians eat a lot of bitter greens. I have found that it really depends on the batch you get. Sometimes it can be more bitter than others. In my family we ate this just simply sauteed in olive with garlic and crushed red pepper. Delicious! If you already questioning this recipe, there is a way to tame the bitterness! Just boil the broccoli rabe in some salted water for a few minutes and the drain and rinse it with cold water. Now you can move on with the rest of the recipe! I do use a little chicken broth here too, so that will also help with the bitter taste, as do the mild cannellini beans.
This recipe calls for Italian sausage. My store makes really good chicken Italian sausage, so I usually use that. Italian pork sausage is also perfectly fine and equally good! I like this dish spicy, so tend to buy the spicy sausage, but mild is fine too! For this recipe I take the sausage out of the casing to saute and mix with all the other ingredients.
I make this with orecchiette pasta. It has to be orecchiette for this dish. It just doesn’t look right to me otherwise. “Orecchiette” means “little ears” in Italian. That is what the shape of this pasta is supposed to resemble. If we were in Italy, my Nonna makes her own orecchiette, but sadly no homemade orecchiette today! We will have to make do with the store bought kind.
Enjoy!
Broccoli Rabe, Sausage and Cannelini Beans with Orecchiete Pasta
Ingredients
- 1 pound Italian sausage chicken or pork
- 2 bunches broccoli rabe stems removed and roughly chopped
- 3 cloves garlic crushed
- 1 cup chicken broth or stock
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- salt & pepper to taste
- 1 16 ounce can canellini beans
- crushed red pepper optional
- Parmesan cheese for serving
- 1 pound occrechiette pasta
Instructions
- Wash and cut the tough stems off the broccoli rabe. Next give them a rough chop.
- Get your pasta cooking. In a large saute pan, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil. Remove the sausage from the casing and cook. It should resemble ground beef crumbles. Remove the sausage to to a plate.
- Add 1 tablespoon olive oil and the garlic to the pan and saute. Don't burn the garlic. Add the broccoli rabe. I know it looks like a lot, but it will cook down-promise! Add some salt and pepper. You can add some crushed red pepper here if you like.
- When the broccoli has cooked down, add your beans and gently stir. Add the sausage back to the pan, and stir again. Now add your chicken broth. Check for seasoning and continue to cook until your pasta is done.
- Reserve one cup of the pasta cooking water and add it to the pan. Continue to cook for an additional minute or two.
- Drain your pasta and add it to your pan. Give it all a nice mix. Serve with Parmesan cheese!
