Recipe

Baked Rigatoni With Sausage And Broccoli Rabe Recipe

Add Step-by-Step Photos	Lunasea / All my dishes 1 year, 10 months ago This delicious, hearty baked-pasta dish includes cipollini onions, an Italian variety that is slightly larger than a boiling onion. (Cipollina means small onion in Italian.) These disk-shaped onions have a sweet, mild flavor and are ideal for roastin... More Prep:35m Cook:30m Servings:6	Lunasea
	rigatoni italian sausage pork rabe broccolini ricotta

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Ingredients

24 garlic cloves, peeled

1/3 cup olive oil

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1 1/2 lb. Italian sausage, halved and cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices

1-2 tbsp. olive oil

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2 bunches broccoli rabe/rapini or broccolini, cut into 1-inch pieces

NOTE: I love broccoli rabe/rapini, but it does have a bitter bite. If you don't mind it, then cook according to the recipe. However, if you want to take the "bite" out of the broccoli rabe, parboil it for five minutes. (You could use the water leftover from cooking the rigatoni.) Drain well and continue with recipe as written.

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1/2 cup dry white wine

8 oz. cipollini onions, peeled and halved (feel free to use regular onions, as cipollini can be hard to find)

3 fresh thyme sprigs

1/2 lb. rigatoni, cooked until al dente

Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

1 cup ricotta cheese

Pinch or two of red chili flakes

2 oz. Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, grated

Directions

Preheat an oven to 400°F.

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In a small pan over medium-low heat, bring 1/3 cup of olive oil and garlic cloves to a simmer. Cook until garlic cloves are soft and just starting to take on color, 10-12 minutes.

Remove garlic with a slotted spoon and reserve the garlic-flavored oil.

NOTE: The recipe only uses the garlic cloves to season the oil. You can discard them at this point OR use them in garlic butter or to smear, as is, on tasted bread, etc. The soft simmering of the garlic in olive oil will make the garlic soft, subtle and a bit sweet.

****

In a sauté pan over medium heat, add 1-2 tbsp. of olive oil and brown the sausage for 2 to 3 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer sausage to a large bowl.

Add the broccoli rabe to the pan and cook until tender, 6 to 8 minutes, adding the wine after 3 minutes. Season with salt, then add the broccoli rabe and any cooking liquid to the bowl with the sausage.

In the same pan over medium heat, warm the reserved garlic oil. Add the onions and thyme, and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are very soft and caramelized, about 15 minutes.

Using a slotted spoon, transfer to the bowl with the sausage and broccoli rabe; reserve the oil. Add the pasta and garlic to the bowl and season with salt and pepper.

Spoon half of the pasta mixture into a 3-quart baking dish and dot with half of the ricotta. Top with the remaining pasta and ricotta.

Drizzle with the reserved oil and sprinkle with the chili flakes.

***

NOTE: This is not a saucy recipe as written. It has very little liquid to make it so and as written, makes for browned, slightly crunchy outer edges. The ricotta stays in pats where you place them - it gets hot surely, but doesn't melt. The components stay distinct, yet melded in flavor, in my opinion. This appeals to me and perhaps others, but maybe not for everyone. Please feel free to doctor the recipe to your liking and let us know what you did and how you liked it.....it's all good and I welcome all input! =)

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Bake for 20 minutes, then sprinkle with the Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and bake until hot and golden brown, about 10 minutes more.

Serves 6.

Adapted from a recipe by Loretta Keller, Chef/Owner, COCO 500, San Francisco and found at Williams-Sonoma

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Comments

jenniferbyrdez 1 year, 10 months ago said:
Oh, Good Lord, you are making me hungry already. Sausage, cheese, pasta and onions-I'm getting a stir in my tummy.

turtle66 1 year, 10 months ago said:
I know this recipe is a good one....I use to make this one but slightly different use to use a oven roasted marinara sauce mixed with a good amount of ricotta cheese then topped the pasta with smoked mozzarella before going in to the oven yummers,

lunasea 1 year, 10 months ago said:
Wow, turtle...that sounds great! Thanks for the input. Smoked mozzarella is one of my favorite cheeses...

notyourmomma 1 year, 10 months ago said:
Fabulous post, one of our favorite meals ever. Love the cipolini and the garlic in this. Great post. I'm hungry now!!!!

conner909 1 year, 10 months ago said:
This looks and sounds great! What a co-inky-dink...I have some broccoli rabe in the fridge as we speak!

cdlsmith 1 year, 10 months ago said:
I plan on growing some broccoli rabe this spring and now I have a delicious recipe to try with it.

conner909 1 year, 10 months ago said:
Lunasea, I have this dish in the oven at this moment! Will let you know how I like it.

conner909 1 year, 10 months ago said:
Mornin' Lunasea! The flavors in this dish were absolutely wonderful...everything I like! I did find cipollini onions in my grocery store and quartered the larger ones. I used all your ingredients and did not add anything. I found the dish a bit on the dry side...but that could be because I only used one large bunch of broccoli rabe. When you bake this dish do you bake it covered or uncovered? I baked it uncovered for the first 20 minutes and then added a lid. In the directions, step 4, I added a couple of tablespoons of olive oil to the pan before sauteing the sausages. In the ingredients section, the item 24 garlic cloves: I wasn't sure whether I was to separate the garlic cloves with a slotted spoon and set aside or leave in the oil. I figured it out in step 7 of the directions. Perhaps the instructions for the garlic cloves could be put in the directions section and clarified. All in all, it was a good recipe...there's only two of us at home, so I have leftovers and am going to figure a way to make it a little more moist when I re-heat it. Thanks!

conner909 1 year, 10 months ago said:
I reread your revised recipe and it is much, much better! You did a great job. I am going to work on the sauce part..maybe adding something to the ricotta cheese so it will be more goopy...will keep you posted. thanks!

lunasea 1 year, 10 months ago said:
Thanks so much Conner909...I'm sorry I didn't revise the recipe sooner to read better. My bad.

And yes, I'd love to hear your ideas on the "sauce factor." Thanks!

notyourmomma 1 year, 10 months ago said:
Oh, I'll play devil's advocate here, but I liked it on the drier side. I enjoyed the flavors when I could taste the "parts" separately. A little sausage, a little green, a little onion and and a little pasta. I'm get tired of "saucy" sometimes and want the sum of the parts. LOL So, Lunasea, you have pleased both types of pasta eaters. I tend to have chicken broth around and if it is drying out so much to get "crispy dry" I add a little broth. It was still a very good dish.

lunasea 1 year, 10 months ago said:
Notyourmomma, I have made this many times and I too liked the dryness as well...I thought the crunchy parts were delish. It provides a distinctiveness among the components that is kind of different and good for me.

However, I do embrace those who want a saucier option and I aim to please both parties.... =) And I'm willing to offer both and try any new version for comparison. Thanks for your input!

Maybe there's two versions of this recipe - or a balance somewhere along the way. Isn't it great to be able to share like this?

eshaffer 1 year, 9 months ago said:
I have everything to make this but the wine and the onions. Cannot wait to make it. I like the idea of it being drier so the seperate components can be truly appreciated and tasted. Sometimes, all you taste is tomato sauce, funny coming from the person who's first recipe was for Sicilian gravy. But, there is a time for tons of sauce, and a time for a less "usual" approach. If you really love broccoli rabe, you don't want sauce smothering the flavor. Just my opinion, then again, I don't like pizza with a ton of sauce either. Thanks for this, can't wait to try. Let you know how it goes.

eshaffer 1 year, 9 months ago said:
Delicious, I substitued chicken broth for the wine, and omitted the onions, I love onions but didn't have a taste for them with this dish. I ate it for 3 days, even better reheated. So absolutelt fantastic. Great recipe

lunasea 1 year, 9 months ago said:
Thanks for the great feedback, Eileen - you rock! I love hearing how folks made a recipe work for them. *hugs* ~ Vickie

invisiblechef 1 year, 9 months ago said:
Great recipe, can't wait to try this out. You have so many family dinner recipes that are wonderful, thanks so much.

invisiblechef 1 year, 9 months ago said:
Everyone loved it, of course :) I had to leave the onions out so my son would eat it also chopped up some of my chanterelles really tiny and added them after crisping them a bit in a skillet.

c2max 1 year, 6 months ago said:
My maiden name is 'Campo'... any of these ingredients make me swoon! Seriously good looking pic of the dish too!

Thanks! Colleen

rottman 1 year, 2 months ago said:
Wow... one can tell you make cooking a real art Lunasea. Thanks. I look forward to trying this one.

dmajor 1 year ago said:
Yummy! Has all the ingredients that I adore! Thanks and high 5!

kikiman 1 year ago said:
Awesome recipe...thks:)

linda2230 9 months, 1 week ago said:
HI Vickie, I just found this recipe on your food page. This recipe looks delicious and I am saving for me to try later. I mean after all, the combo of past, sausage,Parmigiano, etc., great flavor combos. Take care, Judy

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