Broccoli Rabe, Sausage and Bread

Quick meals! That’s all I have time to make around here these days. With a demanding 4-month old baby and a 6-year old boy running around EVERYWHERE, our options are limited. For these hectic days, quick and easy-to-prepare meals come in handy. This recipe relies on good quality ingredients. Fresh broccoli rabe has been quickly blanched to preserve that beautiful green color and then sautéed with lots of garlic, salt and pepper. Our local supermarket sells this beautiful Italian parsley and cheese sausage. I never even heard about this sausage until my husband introduced me to it. Needless to say, it’s absolutely delicious. All I did to it was shove it in the oven for 30 minutes. It doesn’t get easier than that.

Everything comes together with a piece of freshly baked, crusty bread. You can also make crostini or even sandwiches with this recipe if you don’t want to have it as a full meal, just add a slice of cheese and sun dried tomatoes. Delizioso!

Ingredients:

(2-3 servings)

2 bunches broccoli rabe, cleaned
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
5 large cloves garlic, sliced
Salt and pepper to taste

Set up a large bowl with ice water and set aside. Cut the broccoli rabe in half (you can leave it whole if you prefer). Bring a large pot of water to a boil, add 2 tablespoons of salt, add the broccoli robe and cook for 1 minute. Drain it and add it to the bowl with ice water. Heat the olive oil in a large saute pan. Add the garlic and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally until it turns golden brown. Remove the garlic from the pan and set aside. Add the broccoli to the hot oil, season with  salt and pepper and cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes, stir occasionally to make sure everything is cooking evenly.  Add the garlic back to the pan, taste and adjust season if needed. 

For the sausage:

1 pound of Italian parsley and cheese sausage

Preheat the oven to 400˚F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place the sausage on top. With a knife, prick the sausage all over and cook in the preheated oven for about 30 minutes or until light brown. Enjoy with the broccoli rabe and bread.