Sometimes…a combination of flavours comes along which is very simple, yet mindblowingly delicious.
Our version of pasta con cime di rapa is based on a recipe that the lovely Claire kindly sent me. We created this vegetarian version for our neighbour Shaun. In days gone by, this traditional peasant dish would have been made with some form of fatty salt pork – pancetta was specified in the original Guy Grossi recipe, but we’ve also used guanciale with great success.
This recipe takes six weeks and ten minutes to prepare, although you could circumvent the time substantially by buying your broccoli rabé rather than growing it. The other ingredients are pasta, chilli, garlic, butter, olive oil, salt and pecorino cheese. The chilli and garlic are essential – both flavours combine beautifully with the bitterness of the rabé leaf.
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Step 1: Six weeks before preparing the pasta, plant some broccoli rabé seeds in starter pots. As soon as they’re large enough, transfer them into the garden beds. Water them and encourage them to grow. As soon as the leaves are large enough, you can prepare this dish, but it’s even better if you can include some of the flowering heads…
Step 2: Put a large pot of salted water on to boil. Go outside and harvest a big bunch of broccoli rabé. Wash well to remove any wildlife, then chop roughly. I usually remove most of the stems from the leaves, but this is optional and a textural preference on my part. Put the chopped rabé and 400g of dry pasta into the boiling water and cook until the pasta is al dente…
Step 3: Finely chop up peeled garlic cloves and deseeded hot chillies – both to taste…
Step 4: In a large wide pan (I used my Emile Henry wok), heat a generous slab of good quality salted butter with a little olive oil, and fry the chilli and garlic over a low heat until pungent. Add salt to taste…
Step 5: Drain the pasta and broccoli rabé and tip it carefully into the butter-chilli-garlic sauce. Add a ladle or two of the pasta boiling liquid, and stir over a low heat for a couple of minutes until combined. Stir in a generous handful of grated Pecorino cheese, adjust seasonings, and serve.
Remember last month when we were uncertain about the value of growing broccoli rabé in the garden? Since then, this robust leafy green has proven to be a mainstay in our kitchen. This pasta recipe is an easy vegetarian dish, yet fancy enough to serve at a dinner party. Best of all, the wolves (and the neighbours) absolutely love it!
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
Your title takes the cake! Or… the pasta! ;-)
awesome recipe, but I think I rather buy my veggies, you know that I would starve if I depended on our gardening skills…
Hey, the good thing then is that this will only take you a few minutes to make! :)
I’m with Sally, plus I have never heard or seen of broccoli rabe, sounds good though!
Sue, I hope you track some down, this is a nice one (if you like bitter greens)! :)
Beautiful dish of pasta!
I love the time consideration in your title- although, my dear, I think there are few who would wait the 6 weeks! Thanks, Celia, your posts make me smile even when my mouth is watering and my eyes are delighted!
Heidi, given that the rabe was grown from scratch, I think it was actually quite a quick dish! There aren’t many things that we plant that can be eaten within six weeks! :)
Excellent post. Is broccoli rabe like kale? Love this kind of recipe – 6 weeks doesn’t sound too long for such a lovely dish.
Sally, it’s quite different – the kale is much firmer in texture. The rabe is actually a type of turnip, with sprouting tops. There’s info at wiki here.
I was wondering what part of making pasta could take so long!
Tandy, once it’s growing, the second bit is really quite fast! :)
Hi Celia, I love it when dinner comes from the garden. We had mushrooms the other night that I noticed growing on the block. How cool is that?
Oooh you’re brave, Glenda! I’m too chicken to ever eat found mushrooms! :)
“Wash well to remove wildlife” I love your way of stating it! The pasta dish looks very tasty. Could kale be a substitute?
Hehehe…as you know, Manuela, when we don’t spray, there’s always something there. ;-) I haven’t tried it with kale, but I think it would probably work, as it would survive the boiling time quite well!
I have soooooo many peppers right now. This looks wonderful.
I wish we could grow capsicums (or bell peppers, as they’re called over there). We’re trying again this year!
You are brilliant! This would be a great pasta, c
Thanks Celi! We eat it at least once a week these days, although the first batch of rabe is just about finished..
I’ve never had rabi. I’ve certainly never grown it. What a wonderful looking pasta that’s so simple and easy to prepare. So you could add pancetta to the pan at the same time as you add the garlic and chilli? I’ll try this xx
Charlie, when we make it with pancetta or speck (or guanciale), we slice the meat thinly and cook it until crisp in the pan first, to render the fat, the add the garlic and chilli. I think this dish would work with other bitter greens too if you can’t find the rabe.
Looks wonderful Celia! Such a nice combination of flavors. Simple and delicious :)
Thanks Emilie! I can see why the Italians always keep garlic and chilli in their larders! :)
That dish looks good, what is the rabe like by itself?
After a couple of missed months, I have finally posted a IMK for October.
Chris, the rabe on its own is quite bitter, and a little spiky. Here’s an earlier post with photos:
https://figjamandlimecordial.com/2012/09/14/broccoli-rabe-gnocchi/
Your broccoli rabe in the garden is beautiful, From the garden directly into the pot, could not get any fresher, no wonder it tasted so good.
Norma, it was just so good, but what was really surprising was how well the combination of flavours went together. I guess generations of Italians couldn’t be wrong.. ;-)
When I saw 6 weeks and 10 minutes I knew where this was going. Your dishes always sound so much better than mine. :)
M, that’s not true! Your recipes are fantastic! :)
Oh bliss to eat after 6 weeks….. a delicious fabulous pasta and you can feel full and smug at the same time . They really did end up being a good vegie didnt they?
Tania, they really did! I wasn’t sure for a while there.. ;-)
This looks delicious Celia, I have not heard of or grown broccoli rabé before. It might be something for me to track down and experiment with!
Jane, we bought our seed from New Gippsland Seeds, but I’ve also seen them from the Italian Gardener (where they’re called Cime di Rapa). They’re easy to grow – at least here! :)
Goodness – talk about organised! I don’t know what we are having tonight, let alone in six weeks time!!
Amanda, in a funny sort of way, having these growing in the garden allows us to not be organised – “oh bugger, what shall we cook..” is no longer an issue! :)
We had a version of this with Italian sausage in a little Cafe in San Francisco when our boys were young. It is our “go-to” recipe although I use mostly regular broccoli as I am the only one in the family who loves the bitterness of the rawboned. I may have to grow my own to convert them. YUM!
Lynn, you made me smile – I wish it was called broccoli rawboned! I find with bitter greens that taking out the centre vein makes a big difference – it’s what we do with chard as well!
Silly auto-correct! *raab
Yay Celia I’m glad you liked it! Yum!
Claire, you were very kind to think of us, thank you! It’s become a house staple! :)
Well I can see that this recipe would be yummy enough to wait 6 weeks for! So delicious sounding indeed, love it Celia xox
Becca, do you grow this? I think it would probably do really well in Canberra..
Hi Celia! No, not this one. I grow Kale, broccoli, cavolo Nero, silverbeet and 2 types of spinach :) I will look for this one though, I love to try new things!
I’d happily wait 6 weeks for that Celia… damn, I think I’m hungry again.
Brydie, I think it’s worth the wait, personally. :)
This is a classical recipe with broccoli rape but I love my classic’s & home grown is so much better! :) I love this bitter veggie a lot! MMMM!
Sophie, we’ve only just discovered it this year, but we’re using it all the time! It’s really delicious!
I love, love, love this sort of recipe.. the freshest of ingredients, simple but perfect flavors!! Sadly… no rabe in my garden.. happily.. it will only take 10 minutes for me:D xx
Barb, it’s easier that way! But the nicest thing about this recipe for us is that we now never run into “5 O’Clock panic”, when nothing has been done about dinner! We can walk outside, grab some greens, and have dinner on the table by 6. :)
Wow, talk about the slow food movement. I love to get around to trying this out.
Hi Soy! How nice to hear from you! Hope you’re both well! x
Dear Celia,
This is amazing and quite a coincidence. I came across a recipe recently which only used EVOO, raw garlic, chilli flakes, salt and freshly cracked black pepper added to a steaming hot bowl of freshly cooked pasta and it was truly awesome. I agree that sometimes, the less ingredients the better.
Chopinand, that’s so true! And the oil, chilli and garlic pasta is really nice with some fried breadcrumbs on top too – I think that’s an old Jamie Oliver recipe from his first series! :)
My first effort at growing what I think is the same as your broccoli rab, though my seed packet has a different name has died. Two leaves, a flower and then death. So if I make this it will take even longer as we are now heading into winter, but hope springs eternal in the veggie grower’s breast and I can always lick the screen of your blog while I wait xx Jo
I think it does best in cooler months here, Jo, but we’ll try it in summer and see how we go. It really seems to like our backyard though! :)
Ah, Broccoli Raab, the bitter veggie lover’s treat! I too love it, but I have one problem in my garden – we grow BR only in the fall, and there is limited sun at that time – so the leaf growth is slow – what happens is that the flowers start coming on before there is good leaf growth – so I have to plant a lot of plants to get enough for sev meals!
But I still love it – and grow it too. Your plants look fantastic.
Doc, isn’t that funny – we grew our raab in the winter months, and it was great, but the batch we planted at the start of spring is already running to seed! We’ve just planted some more seeds – will see how the plant does in summer!
i love the ‘six week’ bit :-) good thing you weren’t choosing a cabbage dish; that takes months! i would venture that a good squeeze of lemon juice would be a wonderful touch, too.
I LOVE broccoli raab in pasta dishes… a perfect bitter and “green” flavour when mixed with other, richer, sauce ingredients. Now you’ve made me hungry!
I have been busy but seen the intriguing title of this post in my Inbox and knew I couldn’t go pasta it ;) Seriously though you can’t beat simple, flavoursome, homegrown food, and I believe you don’t have to have meat in everything or every meal… mmmmmmmmmm :)
Brilliant Celia, just brilliant! 6 weeks is a fast turn aroound crop, and is another reason for me to get my act together! We often make a similar meal with greens or purple sprouting broccoli, simple and tasty and yes fresh !!
Claire, the sprouting broccoli is very similar, but I think the rabe is a little more bitter. It grows so quickly! :)