Broccoli Rabe Three Ways

Exploring a spring vegetable through one flavor combination in three dishes.

One of my favorite ways to explore ingredients is to grab a huge bunch from the market and eat it little by little in several different dishes. I call these my starter ingredients and it’s all about testing. The key learnings are how to complement the flavors, optimize the textures, and make the cooking process efficient. If that sounds like stiff professional language, just enjoy the other key takeaway here: three delicious dishes from a robust spring vegetable!

You can cook the vegetables then the sandwich in the same pan. Quick and super easy cleanup!

This set of dishes is based on a flavor combination that I know well: broccoli rabe, a little spice, and cheese. Since broccoli rabe can be very bitter, the spice and cheese help to balance that flavor. Like when I tried the special Philly cheesesteak from Shorty’s – the bitterness and heartiness of the vegetable was too pronounced until I tried the sandwich again with hot peppers. In these dishes that spice comes from either a pinch of crushed red pepper or from a spicy pork sausage – with a little fattiness to also mellow the bitter.

A little bit of spicy helps to balance the flavors. Use either crushed red peppers or spicy sausage.

The cheese choice was really fun for me because the beauty of the greenmarket is you get to talk to the artisans behind your food and learn a little. So I marched over to the Cato Corner Farm stand and asked what would taste good with broccoli rabe. The nice gentleman at the stand (shoutout to my fellow tall, Black foodies!!) let me sample five recommendations before I settled on Vivace, a chewy cross between Gruyere and Italian Provolone that’s got the right amount of salty and nutty to pair with the broccoli rabe. It doesn’t melt well, but thin slices are just perfect over the rye bread I used for the sandwich and the pasta pairing.

This is the perfect dish for my #mealprep followers! Super quick and easy, pretty healthy, and it keeps well for a few days.

Here you are – a few dishes to experiment with. And I don’t want to take the fun out of your experiments, so no fixed recipes to limit your imagination. Let me know in the comments how you vary these dishes to match your tastes.

One huge bunch from the farmers market made a week full of these dishes.

Broccoli Rabe Three Ways
Shopping List
Broccoli Rabe
Shallots
Garlic
Rye Bread
Fresh Roasted Red Pepper Pasta (or other pasta)
Vivace Cheese (substitute Gruyere, Provolone or similar)
Spicy Pork Sausage

The first bunch I bought in early May was $5 then $4 the next week. It must be high season now because all of the vendors have this huge bouquet for only $2!

Talk to your farmers and food purveyors! I got this delicious Vivace cheese after sampling several different tastes and textures.

If you want to pack this for lunch in the office, try stopping a step early and using the office toaster oven to finish.

With these simple ingredients you can taste all of the fresh flavors.

Broccoli Rabe and Vivace Grilled Cheese

Slice bread and cheese and set aside. Heat a small amount of olive oil in a pan with crushed red pepper over medium heat. Add a handful of broccoli rabe and cook until just tender. Season to taste with salt, pepper and oregano. Push vegetables to side of pan and add one slice of bread then stack broccoli rabe and chese and add top bread. Simmer until toast is golden brown then flip and toast top layer. Enjoy hot.

I used these  vibrant red pepper shells, but any pasta would do really.

Don’t forget to pin these photos so you can make the dishes again and again.

Arya always like to jump in the background, but she’ll always stay off of the table 🙂

Roasted Red Pepper Pasta with Broccoli Rabe and Spicy Sausage

Bring water to a rolling boil and cook pasta until al dente reserving a bit of cooking water. Heat olive oil over medium heat a large pan. Saute shallots and garlic lightly then add crumbled or sliced sausage to brown. Stir in broccoli rabe and cook until just wilted. Stir in pasta with reserved pasta water. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve with toast and sliced Vivace cheese.

This time around I used red onion and garlic for the sandwich. Just excellent.

Let me know in the comments if you give this a try!

Spicy Sausage and Broccoli Rabe Panini

Slice bread and cheese and set aside. Cook sausage whole or crumble into pieces and cook until browned. Simmer sliced shallot or garlic and onion until translucent. Add a handful of broccoli rabe and cook until just tender. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Stack sausage and broccoli rabe in bread and toast in pan or panini press. Enjoy hot.