This recipe was inspired by Karen from the blog Back Road Journal. Since my family does not eat pork and we are not too keen on Broccoli Rabe, I substituted and came up with a light, delicious, 20 minute meal that will please even your 6-year-old! Now, in Italy, they usually cook the broccoli rabe till they are almost mush, but I like my vegetables al dente ( same as my pasta ), so if you want to cook the Italian way, cook the broccoli in the pasta water along with the orecchiette!
Here is what you will need:
1 package of Applegate Farms Organic Turkey Bacon, chopped.
2 crowns (about 2 cups) of Broccoli florets
1 lb. of Barilla Orecchiette
1 clove garlic
1 tsp peperoncino(crushed red pepper flakes)
3 tablespoon olive oil
1. Set a stockpot of boiling water with salt on the stove and bring to a boil.
2. Blanche the broccoli florets in the boiling water for about 3-5 minutes (depending on your taste, I like my brocolli with a little bite).
3. Take out the broccoli and shock in cold water. Then, in the same water, cook the pasta for about 10 minutes.
3. At the 10 minute mark of cooking the pasta, put a large saucepan or saute pan on the stove with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil over medium-high heat.
5. After about 12 minutes, check the pasta. It should be just about al dente by now. You can remove and drain at this point. Reserve about 1/4 cup of the pasta water.
4. When the saute pan is hot but not smoking, add the whole garlic clove and peperoncino and fry to it starts to turn golden, then remove the garlic.
5. Add the chopped turkey bacon and fry, stirring occasionally for about 5 minutes, then add the broccoli.
6. Add the pasta water and cook for about 2 or 3 minutes more, then add the pasta and mix well, finishing the pasta with it new friends for about 1 minute.
7. Finish with the final tablespoon of olive oil and some parmiggiano reggiano and serve!
Orecchiette with Broccoli and Turkey Bacon
The DelGrosso Food Blog 