Orchiette with Spicy Sausage and Broccoli Rabe

Bring a pot of water to a boil and salt it so it takes like the sea. Add the orchiette and cook until about two minutes shy of doneness. Drain the pasta and reserve 1/2 cup of the cooking water.

Meanwhile heat the olive oil over a medium flame in a large saute pan. Remove the casings from the sausage and add to the hot oil. Brown the sausage for about 4 minutes breaking up the meat into bite sized pieces.

Thinly slice the garlic cloves, mince the sage, and cut the broccoli rabe into 1 inch pieces. Add the garlic to the sausage and cook for about two minutes until softened but not browned. Add the broccoli rabe, sage, chili flakes, a bit of salt and some black pepper. Saute for a couple of minutes to soften the broccoli rabe. Add the white wine and increase the heat. Reduce the wine by half. Add the reserved pasta cooking water and the drained pasta. Turn the heat down to medium and cook for a couple of minutes until the sauce thickens a bit.

Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary with additional salt and pepper. Plate pasta and top with Parmesan cheese if desired.

cook's notes

You can also substitute regular broccoli, just remove the florets from the stem and break up into small bite sized pieces. Peel the broccoli stem and cut into a small dice about 1/2-inch by 1/2-inch. Adjust cooking time as needed.