Cavatelli with Sausage and Broccoli Rabe
This is a classic Italian American dishes and maybe my favorite bowl of pasta on the planet. It’s super simple and super tasty. A great way to impress friends with a well rounded dish that doesn’t require much time or effort.
Ingredients
1 bunch broccoli rabe, trimmed, blanched and chopped
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
4 garlic cloves smashed and rough chopped
red chili flakes optional and to taste
1 pound Ricotta Cavatelli (I buy frozen in the supermarket)
3-4 Italian Sausage links, de-cased (I like spicy but sweet is great also, so is a mix of the two)
pasta water
Parmigiano Reggiano cheese to taste (appx. 1/3 cup, don’t cheap out on the fake stuff, get real aged Parm)
Extra virgin olive oil to drizzle
Preparation
Trim the stems of the broccoli rabe, anywhere from 1-2 inches.
Wash broccoli rabe properly.
Over high heat, bring a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil.
Add the broccoli rabe and remove as soon as the water comes back to a boil.
Drain on a rack over a sheet tray. Broccoli Rabe will be bright green and slightly undercooked, we will finish cooking with the pasta.
Use scissors to roughly cut up the broccoli rabe. Set aside.
Trim the stems of the broccoli rabe, anywhere from 1-2 inches.
Wash broccoli rabe properly.
Over high heat, bring a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil.
Add the broccoli rabe and remove as soon as the water comes back to a boil.
Drain on a rack over a sheet tray. Broccoli Rabe will be bright green and slightly undercooked, we will finish cooking with the pasta.
Use scissors to roughly cut up the broccoli rabe. Set aside.
Bring large pot of salted water to a rolling boil. Please do not use the the same water used to cook the broccoli rabe, it’s green and bitter.
While waiting for the water to boil, drizzle olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
Add the un-cased sausage and using a wooden spoon break apart and cook until golden brown. This takes longer than you think it will. Be sure to get the sausage crispy.
Add smashed garlic for 1 to 2 minutes, until golden brown
Add the chili flakes (to taste) and the broccoli rabe to the sauce pan and sauté for a few minutes.
Add the cavatelli to the salted boiling water. Homemade cavatelli take only a few minutes to cook. When they float to the top, they are done.
Meanwhile, increase the heat (of the sausage/broccoli rabe) to medium high and add about 1/4 cup of the pasta water. Simmer until most of the liquid has evaporated and the broccoli rabe becomes tender. Feel free to add a little more pasta water if the broccoli rabe look a little dry.
Drain the cavatelli (reserving 1/4 cup of pasta water).
Toss everything together and cook over high heat for 1-2 min string or tossing continuously so the fat coats the pasta (add some reserved pasta water if dish looks a bit dry).
Remove from heat and add 2/3 of the cheese, continue to mix. This will create a silky smooth sauce. If the dish becomes to try add a little pasta water to loosen.
Place on serving dish and top with more cheese.
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