Broccoli Rabe With Sweet Italian Sausage Food

ORECCHIETTE WITH BROCCOLI RABE & SAUSAGE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prick the sausages with a fork and place them on a sheet pan. Roast for 15 to 20 minutes, turning once, until just cooked through. Slice 1/2 inch thick and set aside.
• Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large, heavy pot or Dutch oven, such as Le Creuset. Add the sausage slices and sauté for 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until the pieces are browned. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the tomatoes and their juices, the red wine, tomato paste, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper and let the mixture simmer over low heat while you prepare the pasta and broccoli.
• Bring a very large pot half filled with water to a boil and add 1 tablespoon of salt. Add the pasta and cook for 9 minutes exactly. While the pasta is cooking, trim the broccoli rabe to just below the leaves and discard the stems. Cut the leafy part of the broccoli rabe crosswise in 2-inch pieces. When the pasta has cooked for 9 minutes, add the broccoli rabe to the pasta and continue cooking for 2 to 3 minutes, until the pasta is al dente and the broccoli is crisp-tender. Drain in a large colander, reserving 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid, and add the pasta and broccoli to the pot with the tomato and sausage mixture. Stir in the Parmesan cheese and 1 teaspoon of salt. If the pasta seems dry, add some of the reserved cooking liquid. Taste for seasonings, and serve hot with extra Parmesan on the side.

BROCCOLI RABE WITH ITALIAN SAUSAGE

Steps:

• Place the sausage in a 9-inch pie plate, and cover with a paper towel. Cook at 100 percent power in a high-power oven for 11 minutes. Remove from oven and uncover. Pour off liquid and set aside.
• Place the broccoli rabe in a 14-by-9-by-2-inch oval dish. Toss with the olive oil and red-pepper flakes, if using. Cover tightly with microwave plastic wrap. Cook for 8 minutes. Prick plastic to release steam.
• Remove from oven and uncover. Stir in salt, pepper and cooked sausage. Serve alone or over cooked pasta.

ORECCHIETTE WITH BROCCOLI RABE, CLAMS AND SWEET ITALIAN SAUSAGE

Steps:

• 1. Set a large pot of salted water over high heat and bring to a boil.
• 2. Take another large saucepan (big enough to hold clams) and set over medium heat. Add a 2-count of olive oil and loose pork sausage. Cook over medium heat to render fat and get color on the sausage. Once the sausage is browned on all sides, remove and place onto a paper towel-lined plate. To the same pan, add the chopped garlic, red chili flakes and thyme leaves and cook until just fragrant, about 30 seconds to 1 minute. Turn up the heat, dump in the cleaned and scrubbed clams and white wine. Cover with a lid and steam for about 10 minutes until the clams open.
• 3. While clams are steaming, cook the pasta. Add orecchiette to boiling water and cook. With about 3 minutes left, add the broccoli rabe to the same pot and cook until tender. Drain pasta and broccoli and place into the saucepan with the browned sausage. Drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil, season with salt and pepper, to taste, and stir to combine. Place into a large serving bowl.
• 4. Now return to the clams. Remove the lid and add the cubes of cold butter and a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil as you stir. Once the sauce thickens slightly give it a final seasoning with pepper and a little salt (go easy on the salt) then take the whole pan and pour on top of the orecchiette and broccoli rabe. Shower with fresh Parmesan and parsley.

ITALIAN-STYLE BROCCOLI RABE

Steps:

• Combine 1/2 cup olive oil, garlic, anchovy paste, and salt in the bowl of a small food processor; blend into a paste.
• Remove leaves from broccoli rabe and cut off and discard the bottom 1/4 of the stalks. Cut remaining stalks into pieces.
• Fill a large bowl with ice and cold water. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add broccoli rabe and cook uncovered for 1 minute. Drain in a colander and immediately immerse in the ice water for several minutes to stop the cooking process. Drain. Wrap broccoli rabe in cheesecloth, place in a strainer, and run under water for 10 minutes. Periodically press the rabe to "wring out" any bitter fluids. Pat dry and transfer to a resealable bag. Add anchovy paste and crushed red peppers; marinate for 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, toast pine nuts in a skillet over medium heat, stirring frequently until browned and fragrant but not burned, about 2 minutes. Remove from the pan and set aside. Reduce heat to medium-low and add 1 teaspoon olive oil to the skillet. Add broccoli rabe and cook until fork tender and lightly browned, about 10 minutes.
• Transfer to a plate, top with pine nuts, and drizzle with lemon juice.

SAUSAGE AND BROCCOLI RABE' OVER PASTA

Steps:

• Bring two large pots of salted water to a boil.
• While the water is heating, remove sausage from casings (if you can't find Italian sausage bulk)heat a large frying pan over medium heat and place sausage in the pan, breaking into bite sized pieces while cooking.
• Cook sausage till nicely browned, (reserve).
• Cut off stems from Broccoli Rabe and place in boiling water.
• Boil your pasta of choice only cut back on time from the package directions by 1-2 minutes.
• Thinly slice 1-2 cloves of garlic, and place in a small sauce pan with the olive oil (and pepper flakes if desired).
• Cook garlic till lightly toasted (be careful! Don't burn it).
• When broccoli rabe is tender resesrve about 1 cup of the cooking liquid and drain the broccoli.
• Use the cooking liquid from the broccoli rabe to deglaze the frying pan with the sausage.
• Return the drained broccoli to the pot, add the sausage and the cooked pasta.
• Add Olive oil with garlic and the cheese and toss together.
• simmer all ingredients together for about 1-2 minutes (to allow flavors to marry).
• serve with extra cheese for sprinkling.

BROCCOLI RABE AND SAUSAGE WITH ORECCHIETTE

Steps:

• Rinse the broccoli rabe well and chop it in relatively small pieces. Set it aside. Remove the sausage from its casing and mash it.
• Heat the oil in a large, heavy skillet. Add the sausage and cook it, mashing and stirring it, until it loses its redness. Add the garlic and saute another minute or two. Add the broccoli rabe and sprinkle with a little salt. Cook over medium heat, stirring, until the broccoli rabe is thoroughly wilted. Season with salt and pepper. Cover the skillet and remove it from the heat.
• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the orecchiette and cook until al dente, 8 to 10 minutes. Drain very well and transfer to a warm serving bowl.
• Reheat the contents of the skillet and spread over the orecchiette. Toss, then serve with a dusting of pecorino.

SAUTEED POLENTA WITH SWEET ITALIAN SAUSAGE AND BROCCOLI RABE

Steps:

• On a lightly oiled baking sheet spread warm polenta about 3/4 thick and cool to room temperature. Polenta may be made 2 days ahead and chilled, covered.
• In a large non-stick skillet heat 1 tablespoon oil over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking and brown sausage. Add water and cook sausage, covered, turning occasionally, until cooked through, about 10 minutes. Remove lid and cook mixture until any remaining water is evaporated. Transfer sausage with tongs to a bowl and reserve fat remaining in skillet. Cool sausage slightly and slice diagonally.
• Cut polenta into 1 1/2-inch diamond shapes or squares. In skillet sauté polenta in 2 batches in reserved fat over moderately high heat, turning occasionally, adding additional oil to skillet if necessary, until golden on both sides. Transfer polenta as cooked with a slotted spoon to bowl with sausage and cover.
• In skillet heat remaining tablespoon oil over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking and sauté broccoli rabe with salt to taste, stirring, until just wilted. Add garlic paste and sauté, stirring, 1 minute. Stir in remaining ingredients and simmer, stirring, until tomato paste is incorporated and sauce is slightly thickened. Add sausage and polenta and cook until heated through.
• Serve polenta sprinkled with Parmesan.
• To make basic polenta:
• In a heavy saucepan bring water and salt to a boil and gradually whisk in cornmeal in a thin stream. Cook polenta over moderately low heat (it should be barely boiling), stirring constantly, until very thick and pulls away from side of pan, about 40 minutes for cornmeal and about 15 minutes for instant polenta. Remove pan from heat and cover to keep warm. Stir polenta just before using. Polenta will keep warm, covered, about 20 minutes. Makes about 3 cups.
• Note: In the traditional method of cooking polenta, forty minutes of constant stirring is required to achieve a lumpless texture and fragrant flavor. However, Italian-food expert Marcella Hazan has developed a method that involves very little stirring during this time. We believe it produces a very good polenta, one nearly as flavorful and smooth as the traditional procedure. To make satisfactory polenta in a real hurry, an imported instant polenta (precooked cornmeal) is available. This cooks in a mere fifteen minutes.

CAVATELLI WITH SAUSAGE AND BROCCOLI RABE

Steps:

• Place sausage in a large skillet over medium heat and, using a wooden spoon, cook until brown and crumbly.
• Meanwhile, bring at least 4 quarts of lightly salted water to boil and add broccoli rabe and cavatelli. Cook until pasta is done, approximately 11 minutes. Before draining, reserve approximately 2 cups of pasta cooking water.
• When sausage is done, remove from skillet with a slotted spoon. Add extra virgin olive oil to skillet drippings and cook over medium heat until warm. Add sliced garlic, and red pepper flakes and cook until lightly golden (about 1 minute). Add about 1 cup of pasta cooking water to skillet and cook for 1 minute more. Then add drained pasta and broccoli rabe to skillet. Stir to combine and add reserved sausage. Add salt, pepper, and cheese to taste. Stir to combine again. Simmer for 2 minutes or so. If too thick, add more of the reserved pasta cooking water until desired consistency.
• Add more cheese before serving and enjoy!