You can make Orecchiette with Rapini and Sausage in 30 minutes! You'll love this dish featuring pasta, broccoli rabe, and Italian sausage in a garlicky sauce.
Rapini + sausage + orecchiette pasta = LOVE!!
This winning combination hails from the Puglia region of Italy, where it's known as Orecchiette alla Pugliese, or Orecchiette alla Barese, referring to the city of Bari.
My version features Pecorino Romano and a hint of cream to accent the garlicky rapini sauce. Yum!
Recipe ingredients
Orecchiette: This pasta looks like little hats, but orecchiette means "little ears" in Italian. It's traditional for this dish, and you can eat it with a spoon.
But, feel free to substitute penne or cavatelli and eat it with a fork. (Penne is my personal favorite here!)
Rapini: These slightly bitter Italian greens are known as "broccoli rabe" in some regions of America. They have relatively thin stems with dark green leaves and buds. (See the photo above.)
Look for rapini near the broccoli in the produce department. Be sure to ask for assistance if you can't find any. But, you could substitute broccolini if needed.
Italian Sausage: For nice flavor and a chunky texture, buy Italian sausage links and remove the casing with kitchen scissors. It's easier than you think!
Then you can break up the sausage while it's cooking. But you could substitute ground sausage if needed.
Pecorino Romano: Salty, bold-flavored Pecorino, made from sheep's milk, complements the sausage and rapini perfectly. You could use freshly grated Parmesan instead for a milder taste.
Cream: A small amount of heavy cream (¼ cup) prevents dryness and adds a silkiness to the rapini sauce. Cream brings the X-factor to this recipe, in my humble opinion. If you need a substitute, try half and half or whole milk.
If you're concerned about what to do with the rest of the heavy cream, you can use it in these old-fashioned scalloped potatoes or Paglio e Fieno pasta. You can even freeze it and use it within a month, according to Southern Living.
How to make orecchiette with rapini and sausage
See the card at the end of this post for the full recipe, but here's an overview.
- Rinse the rapini and chop off and discard the bottom four inches of the thick stems. Cut the rest of the greens into two-inch pieces.
- Blanche (briefly boil) the broccoli rabe in a pot of salted water. Scoop out the greens and drain them.
- Brown the uncased sausage, breaking it up with a spoon. Add the garlic, then the parboiled rapini. After five minutes, add cooked and drained orecchiette pasta, then stir in Pecorino and cream.
Recipe tips
- Briefly boiling the rapini greatly reduces its bitterness.
- For convenience, use a slotted spoon to remove the blanched rapini from the pot so you can use the same boiling water to cook the pasta.
- Use a salad spinner to thoroughly drain the blanched rapini.
- Adding a couple of ladles of starchy cooking water from the pasta pot will help thicken the sauce and adhere it to the orecchiette.
What to serve with it
Serve the rapini and sausage pasta with some grated Pecorino or Parmesan on top. This makes a complete meal, but you can enjoy it with some Artisan Italian Bread and a refreshing tomato salad with onions.
More pasta dishes to love
- Rapini Pasta
- Broccoli Pasta (one-pot, Naples style)
- Pasta e Piselli (one-pot, Naples style)
- Zucchini Pasta (one-pot, with a soupy texture)
- Spaghetti with Oil and Garlic
More recipes with Italian sausage
- Baked Sausage and Peppers
- Italian Sausage Sandwich
- Italian Sausage Bread
- Sausage and Egg Breakfast Casserole
- White Lasagna Soup
Enjoy!
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If you try this Orecchiette with Rapini and Sausage recipe, please leave a comment and a rating!
Orecchiette with Rapini and Sausage
Ingredients
- 1 bunch rapini (about 13 ounces)
- ½ pound orecchiette pasta (or penne, cavatelli, etc.)
- 5 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 pound Italian sausage (remove casings or buy ground sausage)
- 3 cloves garlic
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 cup starchy cooking water from pasta (2 standard ladles)
- ½ cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese
- ¼ cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 pinch red pepper flakes (or more to taste)
Instructions
- Grate the Pecorino if needed. Peel and slice three cloves of garlic into ⅛-inch thick pieces and set them aside.
- Fill a 6-quart pasta pot ⅔ full with hot water. Add one teaspoon of salt, cover and heat it on high to bring it to a boil. (Note that you'll use the same pot of boiling water to first blanche the rapini, then cook the pasta.)
- While the pot is heating up, clean the rapini. Rinse it and cut off and discard the bottom four inches of thick stems. Cut the remaining rapini into two-inch pieces.
- When the water is boiling, add the rapini and boil it for two minutes. Use a slotted spoon to remove the blanched broccoli rabe to a salad spinner or colander with a pan underneath it. (Keep the pot of water boiling.)
- Add the orecchiette to the pot of boiling water and stir briefly. Cook the pasta according to the al dente instructions on the package, stirring occasionally so the pasta doesn't stick. (You can work on the next step of the recipe while it's cooking.) When the pasta has a couple of minutes left to cook, scoop out one cup (two standard ladles) of the cooking water and place it in a bowl. After the pasta is done and you've saved some of the cooking water, drain the pasta in a colander in the sink. The cooked pasta can sit in the drainer until you're finished making the sausage and rapini.
- While the pasta is cooking, use kitchen scissors to remove the casing from the links of Italian sausage. (Wash your hands well afterward.) Heat a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the uncased sausage to the pan and break it up with a wooden or plastic spoon. Stir the sausage around, and when it's nearly browned, add the garlic and stir to combine. Let this cook while you drain the rapini.
- Drain the blanched rapini well, ideally using a salad spinner. Add the drained rapini to the pan with the sausage. Stir in ½ teaspoon of salt, ¼ teaspoon of pepper and a pinch of red pepper flakes. Cook the rapini with the sausage for five minutes.
- Lower the heat under the pan and add the cooked, drained pasta to the pan of sausage and rapini. Pour in the reserved cup of starchy cooking water and stir to combine. Add the Pecorino and cream and stir to combine. Turn off the heat and serve with extra grated Pecorino or Parmesan, if desired.
- Store leftovers in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to four days.
Notes
Nutrition
(Recipe Source: Cooking with Mamma C)
Doris says
You have to like broccoli rabe to like this dish... and I love it! Another dish to make soon . Thanks for a keeper!
Mamma C says
Hi Doris - Oh, yes! If you love broccoli rabe, you'll love this.
Rich Lenoce says
Andrea, this is a dish I've been eating most of my life. When my kids come home from college this is the first thing they ask for. The only thing I would suggest is instead of pasta water and cream---white wine. It adds a sweetness that makes the dish pop and is balanced by the rapini and Romano. Add the wine after you've added the rapini with the sausage. The alcohol will boil off. Add a bit of pasta water if too dry.
Mamma C says
Hi Rich - The wine would be a nice touch for those who can have it!