Broccoli rabe is a classic ingredient in Italian cuisine. Cooking softens its bitter nature and make it a great partner to guanciale in this pasta dish. Strozzapreti Pasta with Broccoli Rabe & Guanciale
Strozzapreti Pasta with Broccoli Rabe & Guanciale
Print This Recipe Yield 4Source Adapted from La Cucina ItalianaPublished
Ingredients
- 1 bunch broccoli rabe, trimmed
- salt
- 3 ounce guanciale or unsmoked bacon
- 6 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 cup coarse plain breadcrumbs
- 1 pound dried strozzapreti, gemelli or orecchiette pasta
- 1 cup parmesan, shaved or grated
Directions
Cook broccoli rabe in a large pot of salted boiling water until tender, about 5 minutes. Reserving water, transfer broccoli rabe to a colander, then rinse under cold water to stop cooking. Gently squeeze out excess water, then roughly chop.
In a large skillet, combine guanciale and 4 tablespoons oil; heat over medium heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until guanciale begins to crisp, about 4 minutes. Add broccoli rabe and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, for 3 minutes more. Transfer mixture to a large serving bowl (big enough to toss the pasta). Return skillet to medium heat; add remaining 2 tablespoons oil and breadcrumbs. Cook, stirring constantly, until breadcrumbs are golden, about 5 minutes; remove from heat.
Return pot of salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook until al dente. Reserving ½ cup of the pasta cooking liquid, drain pasta and add to bowl with broccoli rabe. Add breadcrumb mixture and ¼ cup of the pasta cooking liquid. Toss to combine. Moisten with extra pasta cooking liquid, if desired. Serve immediately, sprinkled with cheese.
Watercress soup sounds unbelievably yummy!
But I like it too!
LL
(Remember Irish Spring?)
in a salad, though like our friend the rutabaga I have a hard time finding cress around here.…boo. This was a very popular soup in France, and I ate it all the time when I lived there, thank you for reminding me of its awesomeness!
Beautiful soup, Greg! Kudos on getting so much nutrition into a bowl of soup. I’m also a big fan of adding an egg yolk, it adds another depth to make it silky and smooth. 🙂
[K]
I had no idea. That really is a TON of health benefits. I need to try watercress now. The soup sounds great.
I love the image of people walking down the street nibbling watercress bundles as if they were ice cream cones. I wonder, if I did that for long enough, if I could ever convince myself that it tastes like ice cream. Probably not, right?
If I make an instant version of this, do I just add water or watercress?
I haven’t experimented a lot with watercress, I always thought it was just a bland garnish. I need to try it a bit more. The “peppery” part makes me think it would be good in a sort of chimichurri sauce.
You know I loved this post. Not because it’s manly, but because of the food history. I didn’t know sage is manly. So what does that make basil?
I don’t grow hair on my chest but can appreciate a bunch of watercress in soup or in a salad.
Watercress is one of my favorite peppery greens. Such a strong, bold flavor. And with addition of sage, this soup definitely falls into the man category.
I was very unaware of the other benefits of watercress. Thanks for the info!
Such a pretty soup Greg. Glad to know that real men like watercress 😉
Every since hearing about the watercress soup diet I’ve avoided it (weird British extreme weight loss documentary), but this looks like something I could enjoy!
Never would have thought to put watercress and sage together — what a great starter for a dinner party…
Just a tiny bit of sage doesn’t overtly flavor this soup so much as it makes it more aromatic. Besides sage is manly! GREG