Orecchiette with Sausage & Broccoli Rabe - A recipe at Cook Eat World (2024)

FAQs

How to cook orecchiette? ›

Dried orecchiette should be added to the boiling, salted water and left to cook for nine to 12 minutes, the shorter cooking time resulting in an al dente pasta. Read the packaging for the pasta for a more exact cook time. Once cooked, drain both fresh and dried orecchiette and immediately top with sauce.

Italian Tradition

Orecchiette are also very good topped with tomato sauce with a sprinkle of salted ricotta, with a gravy made from pork chops, with broccoli or with lamb.

Description. An orecchietta has the shape of a small dome, with its center thinner than its edge, and with a rough surface. Like other kinds of pasta, orecchiette are made with durum wheat and water.

For most store-bought dried orecchiette pastas, cook for about 12 minutes until al dente. In the case of fresh pasta, such as Douglass's homemade orecchiette, the time is much shorter, about 2 to 3 minutes.

The word 'orecchiette' means 'little ears' Some food historians argue that this pasta arrived in Southern Italy from Provence during the 13th century with the Angevins. Orecchiette pasta is often served with pancetta, ricotta and ham and cream-based sauce, but works well with most any recipe.

Serving Suggestions

In Puglia, orecchiette is traditionally cooked with broccoli rabe (rapini) known as 'cima di rapa' in Italian. This slightly bitter leafy vegetable is very popular in Italy, particularly in the regions of Lazio, Puglia, and Campania, where it is grown.

Do Not Rinse. Pasta should never, ever be rinsed for a warm dish. The starch in the water is what helps the sauce adhere to your pasta. The only time you should ever rinse your pasta is when you are going to use it in a cold dish like a pasta salad or when you are not going to use it immediately.

1. **Cavatelli**: These small pasta shells have a similar shape and texture to orecchiette. 2. **Farfalle**: Bowtie pasta can work in some recipes that call for orecchiette, although the shape is different.

How Do You Reduce the Bitter Taste of Broccoli Rabe? The easiest way to rid broccoli rabe of some of its bitter flavor is by blanching it first. Just a quick dip in boiling water extracts enough of the bitterness and jumpstarts the cooking.

As with broccoli, the florets turn yellow as it ages, so yellow flowers are a sign that your bunch of broccoli rabe is past its prime.

Do you remove stems from broccoli rabe? ›

Trim off the very end of the stem and discard. Broccoli rabe can be cooked & eaten whole. stems from the leaves. Chop them into 2-inch bite-size pieces.

The Knife – If you want stick to tradition, use a non-serrated knife. A butter knife with a round tip is ideal – apart from its smooth surface, it's not heavy so won't tire your hand (making a big batch of fresh orecchiette can take up to 2 hours – quality takes time!)

The uniqueness of orecchiette pasta is both in composition and shape: first of all, there is no egg in the pasta itself, whose sole ingredients are durum wheat flour (one of Puglia's premier products), water and salt (this also means that orecchiette are vegan-friendly!); secondly, their disc-like shape is rough in ...

Pasta sticking together occurs, because as noodles are boiled, they release starch, creating a sticky kitchen predicament, especially if your pot is too small or you are not using enough water.

The cooking time varies mainly by the type of pasta: if it is fresh orecchiette it will take just a few minutes, while for the dried ones it will take up to 15 minutes. Fresh orecchiette after a few minutes in water will tend to rise to the surface: this is the sign that they are already cooked.

If you've never experimented with boiling your pasta in a liquid other than water, you may be missing out. For instance, not only is it possible to cook your noodles directly in your sauce, but doing so can pay off with fewer dishes and less wait time.

COOKING YOUR PASTA

Stir gently. Return to a boil. For authentic "al dente" pasta, boil uncovered, stirring occasionally for 12 minutes. For more tender pasta, boil an additional 1 minute.