Author Notes
I took inspiration from Mark Bittman, who once wrote a post encouraging some pasta with your vegetables instead of the reverse. Also, credit goes to the Kitchn site, which once posted a great-looking recipe for pasta and spinach with lemon-mascarpone sauce that stuck with me until now. Orecchiette are a traditional pairing for broccoli, but the rapini in this recipe combines quite well with the pasta, and the tangy, creamy sauce offsets its bitterness nicely. —Rivka
Ingredients
-
1
large bunch rapini (broccoli rabe), cleaned, ends trimmed, chopped into thirds
-
1 1/2 cups
orecchiette
-
1/2 cup
mascarpone cheese
-
zest
of 1 meyer lemon
-
3 tablespoons
freshly-squeezed meyer lemon juice
-
1 tablespoon
butter
-
1/4 teaspoon
freshly grated nutmeg
-
salt
-
freshly cracked pepper
-
1/4 cup
hazelnuts, coarsely chopped and toasted
-
1/4 cup
grated parmigiano reggiano cheese
Directions
-
In a large sauce pan, bring plenty of water (at least 6 cups) to a boil. Add broccoli rabe, cover pot, and blanch about 1 1/2 minutes, until firm but tender and still very green. Remove greens and shock in an ice bath to stop cooking.
-
Refill pot with more water, add several pinches of salt, and bring to a boil.
-
Meanwhile, combine mascarpone, lemon zest and juice, nutmeg, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt in a small bowl. Set aside.
-
Drain pasta about 1 or 2 minutes before it's done, reserving about 1/2 cup of the cooking water. Transfer pasta to a large saute pan, turn the heat to low, and add butter and broccoli rabe. Toss to combine and heat through.
-
Add mascarpone mixture and again, stir to incorporate, so that each piece of pasta and broccoli gets coated in a bit of the mascarpone sauce. Add hazelnuts; transfer to plates, top with grated cheese, and serve immediately.
I'm a healthcare consultant by day, food blogger by night, and I make a mean veggie chili. I'm eat a mostly-vegetarian diet, but have a soft spot for meat, especially braised short ribs. And this profile wouldn't be complete without an admission that I absolutely am addicted to cookies and chocolate. Finally, I love the idea of food52 and can't wait to share and read my and others' favorite recipes!
See what other Food52ers are saying.