Garlicky Rapini Pasta with Sun-Dried Tomatoes
Rapini, a bitter but beloved green, stars in this flavorful pasta dish, complemented by rich flavors of garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, and a touch of chili heat
Rapini, a bitter but beloved green, stars in this flavorful pasta dish, complemented by rich flavors of garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, and a touch of chili heat
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 bunch rapini (brocoli raab) trimmed and cut into 3 inch pieces
- 5 cloves garlic
- 5 sun-dried tomatoes
- 2 teaspoons dried chili flakes (optional)
- 1 teaspoon sea salt and freshly cracked pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon parmesan freshly shaved
- 8 roasted hazelnuts (optional)
- 1 wheat pasta (i used spagettini)
- 0.25 cup pasta water
- Carbohydrate 6.47054231520522 g
- Cholesterol 5.35581165466803 mg
- Fat 3.96380459151694 g
- Fiber 0.677794045901775 g
- Protein 2.17406998752459 g
- Saturated Fat 0.606827739051111 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (21g)
- Sodium 655.179518534539 mg
- Sugar 5.79274826930345 g
- Trans Fat 0.218473142450589 g
- Calories 67 calories
Step-by-step
- Boil water in a large saucepan. Cook pasta according to the manufacturer’s directions.
- While the water in boiling, trim base of rapini stalks. Heat olive oil in a large skillet. Add whole garlic cloves and sauté for a about 5 minutes. Add sun-dried tomatoes, salt, pepper and optional chili flakes. When garlic cloves begin to brown lower heat just to keep the skillet warm.
- In the mean time, blanch the rapini in the pasta water for 4 or 5 minutes. Add blanched rapini to the warm skillet, increase heat to medium and sauté for about 2 minutes.
- Drain the pasta, reserving 1/4 cup pasta water. Add pasta and pasta water to skillet. Increase heat to medium high, sauté and mix well, for about 2 minutes. Smash the garlic cloves directly in the skillet with the back of a spoon.
- Serve immediately, top with freshly shaved parmesan and roasted hazelnuts.
Where does the extra oil go when doubling a green vegetable pasta? Doubling this recipe requires careful attention to pan capacity rather than simple multiplication. Crowding a skillet prevents the rapini from searing properly, resulting in steamed greens that retain an unpleasant, watery bitterness rather than a concentrated, sweet-charred flavor. Use a wide, 12-inch heavy-bottomed skillet to maintain proper surface area, allowing the stems to make direct contact with the hot oil without piling deep.
Scaling down is similarly straightforward, but garlic ratios demand precision. Five whole cloves infuse the oil without burning when cooked gently over medium-low heat for five minutes; reducing the batch to a single portion means dropping to two cloves, or the fat will simply fry the garlic into acrid chips. Blanching the rapini directly in the pasta water for four to five minutes removes harsh glucosinolates before the greens hit the skillet. Reserve that starchy cooking liquid before draining, as the starch molecules are necessary to emulsify the oil and coat the spagettini evenly.
Crushing the softened garlic cloves directly into the pan at the final stage releases their aromatic oils into the sauce rather than leaving them as isolated chunks. Toasting hazelnuts ahead of time releases essential oils; chop them coarsely just before plating to ensure maximum crunch against the tender pasta strands.
