Broccoli Rabe or Broccoli di Rape is a vegetable from southern Italy, northwest Spain, and China. It has a nutty, bitter, and pungent taste. We bought some at an open market one Saturday. The vender said to cut off the thick ends, remove the flowers, and steam the stocks to make spaghetti sauce. So while I steamed the stocks for 15 minutes, then another 15 minutes. Finally, sautéed them with some oil and garlic for 10-15 minutes. The stems were still tough, I ended up making this sauce with the flowers instead. -Mike
Serve 4
1. Chop: 2 garlic cloves, 1 onion, 1 zucchini, and 3 mushrooms. Sauté.
2. Add 1 chopped tomato and a 1/4 cup (60 ml) of white wine + 1 tsp. (5 ml) of flour to thicken the sauce. Simmer.
3. Chop fresh Italian basil, thyme, washed radish leaves, and Cuba basil. Add to the
sauce.
4. Add the zest of one organic lemon. Then juice the rest of the lemon into the sauce. Continue to stir.
5. Simmer while the pasta cooks in salted boiling water. Drain the pasta.
6. Combine the pasta with the sauce in a large bowl.
7. Blend in 1/4 cup (60 ml) each: parmigiano and pecorino-romano cheeses.
8. Top with a handful of the yellow rapini flowers for a
sweet, broccoli flavor.
