Equipment
Ingredients
Produce
- 300 g broccoli rabe, tough stems removed, chopped into bite-sized pieces
- 3 garlic, minced
- 1 lemon, zested and juiced
Meat & Pantry
- 400 g spicy italian sausage, bulk, or casings removed
- 250 g canned chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 350 g orecchiette pasta, dry
- 30 ml extra virgin olive oil
- 50 g unsalted butter, cold and cubed
- 50 g pecorino romano cheese, freshly grated
- kosher salt
- black pepper, freshly cracked
Nutrition (per serving)
Method
Bring a large heavy-bottomed pot of heavily salted water to a rolling boil at 100 degrees Celsius or 212 degrees Fahrenheit. Drop the chopped broccoli rabe into the water and blanch to temper its bitterness. Remove with a slotted spoon after 2 minutes and set aside. Keep the water boiling.
In the same pot of boiling water, cook the orecchiette according to package directions until al dente. Reserve at least 120ml of starchy pasta water in a small heatproof cup, then drain the pasta into a colander.
While the pasta boils, heat the extra virgin olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the spicy Italian sausage, allowing it to sear for a minute before breaking it up into bite-sized crumbles with a wooden spoon. Wash hands thoroughly after handling raw meat. Cook until deep brown and fully cooked through to an internal temperature of 74 degrees Celsius or 165 degrees Fahrenheit.
Lower the skillet heat to medium. Stir the minced garlic and drained chickpeas into the sausage. Cook until the garlic is highly fragrant and the chickpeas are warmed through, stirring constantly to prevent the garlic from burning.
Add the blanched broccoli rabe, cooked orecchiette, lemon juice, and half of the reserved pasta water to the skillet. Toss everything together vigorously over medium heat, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan.
Remove the skillet entirely from the heat. Scatter the cold cubed butter, lemon zest, and grated pecorino over the pasta. Toss and stir continuously to mount the sauce. The residual heat and starch will melt the butter and cheese into a creamy, glossy glaze. If the mixture seems dry, add the remaining pasta water a splash at a time. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and freshly cracked black pepper.
Chef's Notes
- Blanching the broccoli rabe in the pasta cooking water serves two distinct purposes. First, it extracts some of the astringent bitterness from the greens. Second, it lightly infuses the cooking water with a vegetal flavor that the pasta will later absorb.
- Always use cold butter when finishing a pan sauce (a technique known as monter au beurre). Cold butter melts slowly, allowing the milk fats to suspend evenly within the liquid, creating a velvety emulsion rather than a greasy, split mess.
- Orecchiette translates to little ears in Italian. It is the absolute ideal shape for this dish because the cupped centers perfectly cradle the whole chickpeas, sausage crumbles, and the rich butter sauce.
- Allowing the sausage to sear completely undisturbed for the first couple of minutes builds a deep layer of caramelized fond on the bottom of the skillet. This fond dissolves into the pasta water later, creating the savory backbone of your sauce.
Storage
Refrigerator: 3 days — Store in an airtight container.
Reheating: Gently warm in a skillet over medium-low heat with a splash of water or chicken broth to re-emulsify the sauce.
