Aging Disgracefully

Serves 4.
Bring lightly salted water in a small saucepan to a boil (make sure the water is a good 5 inches or more deep). Coarsely chop and sort 2lbs of rabe into 1/2 pound increments (the sorting will be made clear shortly). Blanch each increment.* The ends of the rabe (the bulby little things), need only 60 seconds. The stems really need 90, and the thickest stems may need 120. After blanching, immediately remove and shock in ice water. Reserve the blanching water over a medium heat. When it regains its simmer, toss in 2/3 of a pound of sweet sausage still in case.

Heat an enameled cast iron pan (or any other deep pan that you use for sauces) to medium and put in some extra virgin olive oil. Toss in 1 1/3 lb of sweet sausage, casings remove. Gently saute, breaking up the sausage into small chunks with a wooden spoon. When about 1/2 way done, toss 1 lb of orrechiette into vigorusly salted boiling water. Then, add several cloves of chopped garlic and crushed red pepper to the cast iron pan. (Be more generous with each if it suits your taste.) To do this, make a space at the bottom of the pan by pushing the sausage aside, and then add in a bit more oil. After 60 seconds (when the oil is to heat), add the garlic and peppers. This will allow the garlic to soften, and the oil to be infused with garlic and spiciness. When pasta is 4-5 minutes from done, pour reserved blanching liquid into the cast iron pan (hopefully enough to fill the pan to about 1/4 depth). Grind in freshly ground black pepper. Taste (should be somewhat salty and spicy, with definite garlic and fennel overtones). Add salt if necessary. With 1 minute to go, toss in the rabe. Put the pasta in at al dente, using blanching liquid for added lubrication if necessary. Serve immediately. Cheese is not necessary, but you could use freshly grated asiago.

*Its very important not to overwhelm the blanching pan. Each increment should be fully submergable and quickly! If your increments are too large or unwieldy for this, then do more, smaller increments.

**This can be served over two days as a good cold pasta. To do so, reserve some of the braising liquid to re-lubricate the pasta later.

***You may be wondering about the fate of the 2/3 of a lb. of sausage that had been in the blanching water. These were added to infuse the water with that rich, sausagy, fennel like taste. You can remove the sausages and just eat them. Alternatively, I often chop them up and put some chunks on everyone's plate.

****You can make a vegetarian version of this. In that case, instead of putting sausages in the blanching liquid, you just add fennel seeds. These can actually be added to the blanching liquid or gently sauteed with the garlic and hot pepper flakes.

Now, this isn't exactly the classic Campanian version of this dish. The classic version is meatless. Here it is:

Trim and wash 1lb of broccoli rabe, removing tough stems. Plunge the broccoli into a pot of heavily salted water and cover. When the water returns to boil, uncover and boil oh, maybe 5 minutes. Remove and drain the broccoli. But keep the water at a high simmer.

Toss a bunch of garlic (how much depends on your love for garlic: I don't usually add more than 7 cloves) over high heat olive oil. Add hot red pepper flakes (or sliced serrano or habenero peppers). Let the peppers and garlic work into the oil. Toss in the rappini and cook 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally with the pan covered otherwise. As this proceeds, return the blanch liquid to a boil. Toss with salt. Toss 1lb orecchiette into the blanch liquid. Cook a bit more. You want the broccoli to start to fall apart.

Toss 1 cup of the starchy, broccoli water into the saute pan. Stir, then toss in the not quite cooked orrechiette and give it 2-3 more minutes. You can add fresh cracked black pepper at this point. Stir in some freshly grated pecorino-romano cheese to achieve a final creaminess.

The key here is to not have too much blanching liquid to start. You want just enough. But at the same time you want the water to be sparse enough to achieve a real starchy and broccoli quality.