Pasta with Rapini
Pasta with rapini is a quick and flavorful Italian comfort food recipe that requires minimal effort. It's a vegan and family-friendly dish that can be made in under 20 minutes.
Ingredients
- 1 lb rigatoni
- 2 pounds broccoli rabe approximately 2 bunches, trimmed and washed
- ⅓ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 medium onion chopped (sweet or Vidalia)
- 4-6 garlic cloves sliced or chopped
- 1 teaspoon sea salt plus salt for the pasta water
- 1 tsp freshly ground pepper more to taste
Instructions
- For the pasta: Bring a large pot of water to a boil (8 cups water ). When the water comes to a boil, add in the salt, and when it boils again, add in the pasta. Cook the pasta, stirring occasionally, until it’s just about al dente (check the time on your pasta box and set a timer, as you’ll be cooking it about a bit more than half of the boxes’ recommended cooking time).
- For the rapini: Meanwhile, while you wait for the pasta water to come to a boil, you could begin the sauce. Bring another pot of salted water to boil. Cook the rapini until tender, about 4-5 minutes. Drain in a colander, squeezing out any excess water; set aside.
- Start the sauce: Heat a large sauté pan over medium heat. Drizzle in the pan 3 tablespoons of the olive oil (I used extra-virgin). Tilt the pan to distribute it around the pan.
- Cook the onion: Add in the onion, stir, and cook until soft. Add in the garlic and cook for less than a minute (you don’t want it to brown).
- Add in the broccoli: As soon as the garlic combines with the onions and is fragrant, add in the broccoli. Increase the heat to medium-high and cook, stirring occasionally, until the broccoli softens a little. Add in a ladle of the starchy pasta water, stirring occasionally, for 4-5 minutes.
- Add in seasonings: Sprinkle on the salt and pepper and stir.
- Drain pasta: When pasta is just before al dente,, drain (reserve about 1/2 cup pasta water). Add the pasta to the skillet with the broccoli sauce.
- Combine the pasta with the sauce: Increase the heat to medium-high. Stir to combine the pasta with the broccoli sauce (be sure not to keep it longer than 2 minutes, so the pasta won’t get over cooked and too soft). Add in a little bit of the reserved pasta water, if needed, to loosen the broccoli sauce a bit.
- Check the seasoning: If needed, add more salt and some freshly ground pepper (to taste).
- Serve the pasta and broccoli sauce: Add the pasta to a serving bowl or platter. Drizzle on about 1 tablespoon of extra-virgin olive oil.
- Garnish (optional): To keep it vegan/dairy-free, sprinkle on some vegan parmesan. If you’re not vegan, sprinkle on some Parmigiano-Reggiano. If you like it spicy, sprinkle on some red pepper flakes. Enjoy!
Notes
- Olive oil: Use a very good quality extra-virgin olive oil. It really will make the flavor of the sauce so much better.
- Pasta: You could use whatever short pasta you enjoy. You could even make this with spaghetti. It’s up to you and what you prefer. We really like it with rigatoni.
- Rapini: You could replace the rapini with broccoli, broccolini, or even swiss chard.