Cooking with Love

with Gianna Conte    (Jan)

Cut and wash the rapini, drain in colander

Cut and wash the rapini, drain in colander

Cooking, but not done, yet.

Cooking, but not done, yet.

Broccoli Rabe (rapini)

I am going to teach you the correct way to cook rapini. The stems can be very long, nevertheless, the pieces should be thin enough to cook evenly. 

With a sharp knife, trim the rapini, while trying to salvage as much as you can. Rinse them well in a colander and drain.

Ingredients:

2-3 batches of broccoli Rabe (rapini)

2 TBS Olive oil

6 cloves of garlic, sliced

Hot pepper flakes, to taste (optional)

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Place 2 TBS of olive oil in a large pot with a lid.

Add the garlic and hot pepper flakes.  Let them cook until translucent. DO NOT BURN THE GARLIC, OR YOU WILL HAVE TO START OVER.

SLOWLY add the drained rapini into the HOT oil, holding on to the lid. Be careful, it will splatter. Cover and keep on low heat, allowing the rapini to simmer down. 

At this point, stir and even out the rapini. Salt and pepper to taste.

Let cook slowly, checking every few minutes for doneness. It should be fork tender.

Enjoy as a side with steak or sausage  or fish

                 or 

Orchette pasta, Sausage and Rapini

Look for the recipe on my menu under pasta category.

Here's the finished rapini. It shrinks to very little.

Here's the finished rapini. It shrinks to very little.

Place chopped garlic and hot pepper flakes in olive oil.

Place chopped garlic and hot pepper flakes in olive oil.

For your information

There is a difference between Broccoli Rabe and Rapini. The Broccoli Rabe stems are longer and the leaves are larger, which require more cooking time. 

The rapini are more tender, and will cook faster.