Orecchiette Pasta with garlic & oil, rabe, sausage & sundried tomatoes
It has been a tradition in our house to allow the birthday celebrant to select the menu, breakfast, lunch and dinner. Even now with the nest empty, we continue this policy by hosting their party or via meals-on-wheels. My daughter and co-conspirator in this cooking blog, always selects a breakfast of Cinnamon Toasted Seeded Italian Bread from the Bronx and dinner of Orecchiette with garlic and oil, broccoli rabe, hot italian sausage and sun dried tomatoes, or as she refers to it, 'Italian Birthday Cake!' You may certainly substitute different pastas like Farfalle, Mezzi Rigatoni or others of similar sized/shape. Also, sweet Italian sausage is fine for the more "delicate" palate, just don't try to run that change by Lindsay! She may seem sweet but take it from her father, BIG mistake. Important rule; only make this dish when you can secure VERY fresh Broccoli Rabe, or postpone making it until it is available.
Ingredients
1 lb. Orecchiette Pasta
1 1/4 cups EVOO
2 large heads of broccoli rabe
2 lbs. hot Italian Pork Sausage, sweet is acceptable... if you use chicken sausage as a substitute, please don't tell me
1/2 lb. sun dried tomatoes, cut 3/4 of them in half and leave the rest whole
18 medium sized peeled garlic cloves
8 ounces grated Peccorino cheese
1 tsp. crushed red pepper - optional
1/3 cup of salt
(This recipe serves 6)
Directions
Follow the directions for preparing Broccoli Rabe that we posted previously on this blog, first paragraph only. I do not saute the rabe for this dish. Just blanch it, cool it completely in cold/ice water, drain well and set aside in a covered bowl at room temp.
If the sausage you are using is in link form, remove it from it's casing. I use a sharp pairing knife to slit the casing lengthwise and then pull the sausage apart into bite sized pieces. Pour 2 to 3 ounces of EVOO in a nonstick frying pan and set on medium low heat. Brown the sausage pieces in batches on all sides for about 5 minutes total. Do not cook thoroughly at this point. Place the cooked sausage in a bowl, cover tightly with foil and set aside.
Pour the remaining EVOO, you should have at least 8 ounces remaining at this point, in a large, heavy bottom sauté pan and set on low heat. Put at least 12 peeled garlic cloves in the oil, and slow cook them to a light brown color and soft consistency. Take special care not to burn the garlic, it will ruin the dish and the olive oil. Remove the cooked garlic cloves and set aside. With the flat side of a Chef's knife, smash 2 garlic cloves and put them in the olive oil and raise the heat to medium, again you need to keep the garlic from burning. If you desire some hot spice in the dish, add the crushed red pepper to the oil at this point. After 1 to 2 minutes add the cut sun dried tomatoes, stir into the oil and garlic and remove the sauté pan from the heat.
Place the pasta in 8 quarts of rapidly boiling water and stir in the 1/3 cup of salt. Remember the water should be 'salty like the sea'. While the pasta cooks, put the broccoli rabe in a large roasting pan. Then empty the bowl of sausage, including any oil in the bowl, on top of the rabe. The pasta should be made aldente. Right before shutting off the pasta water, reserve 2 cups of the starchy, salted water from the pot and pour half of it into the sauté pan with the garlic, EVOO and cut up sun dried tomatoes. Place the sauté pan on high heat for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove the pasta from the boiling water using a large pasta scoop/spider. Any hot water that drips from the pasta into the roasting pan, helps to reheat the rabe and the sausage. Sprinkle about half of the peccorino on top of the pasta, then ladle on the contents of the sauté pan. At this point, using a couple of large spoons, mix all the contents of the roasting pan thoroughly from the bottom up. If needed, add additional reserved pasta water and stir a bit more.
Lastly, spoon the roasting tray contents into a large serving bowl, if desired. Dress the top of the pasta with the sauteed garlic cloves, the uncut sun dried tomatoes, 2 ounces of EVOO and the rest of the cheese. Happy birthday Lindsay!
