Broccoli rabe is sometimes mistaken for broccolini, a cross between broccoli and gai lan (Chinese broccoli) that has none of rabe's gloriously wanton character. The flavor is pungent - mustardy and appealingly bitter, a favorite on Italian tables, where it also goes by the names broccoli raab, rapini, broccoletti, or cime di rapa.
Unlike broccoli, with its thick stems and bushy florets, broccoli rabe (below at A. Russo and Sons in Watertown) has dark thin stems with jagged leaves topped with clusters of small, loose florets. Most of the broccoli rabe that we see for sale is Andy Boy brand, grown since 1940 in California by the D'Arrigo family. The Andy Boy variety has juicier stems, many buds, and smaller leaves than what you'd find in Italy. The family started with 28 acres and now farms more than 24,600.
In Puglia, the heel of Italy, broccoli rabe is classically paired with orecchiette, ear-shaped pasta. There are many variations of the dish, but usually the rabe is cooked with garlic, anchovies, and crushed red pepper, and tossed with the pasta and some combination of spicy sausage, breadcrumbs fried in butter, and sharp cheese.
For a luxurious dish of broccoli rabe, the stalks and all of the seasonings are cooked slowly in a covered pot until they're intensely flavorful and soft - considerably softer than most American tastes prefer, drabber on the plate than many like. To maintain a more vibrant green, blanch the rabe in salted water and then cook it with the seasonings and plenty of olive oil for just a couple of minutes.
A really good spicy sausage turns this into a main course, but can overpower the broccoli rabe, which should really be the star of the plate. Bowties or even penne will work instead of orecchiette. Breadcrumbs instead of cheese, with their sweet oily crunch, are a welcome garnish with the bite of the garlicky greens.
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JONATHAN LEVITT
28 Nov 2007
