I know I have been super behind on these the past couple weeks, but don’t blame me because I have a 5 hour commute each day and I don’t have time or energy to write after work. But here I am, getting back on track!

One week I missed for #GettingItLocal was all about broccoli rabe, which is kind of a cross between broccoli and a bitter green. I honestly never had it before I made this recipe, but I am always down to try new things!

This is a recipe I actually make a lot, but I use kale instead of broccoli rabe (or regular broccoli), but it seemed like all the recipes I was finding were very  similar to this. It’s honestly such as easy recipe, but I’m gonna be super honest with you: After making this, I found out that I probably don’t like broccoli rabe. I am super sensitive to bitter tastes (I don’t like coffee or chocolate either), but I though because I like other veggie in the same family, that I would like this.

But hey, my tastes are different from everyone else’s and some of you may like broccoli rabe, some of you may decide to use kale instead, and either is ok! But I like this recipe because it is super easy and comforting. Like I said, I used to make my similar kale recipe back when I was in high school! Sometimes I would change the ratio of kale to pasta and make a salad, sometimes I would leave it as pasta depending on what I felt like eating. Also I am such a fan of spicy things, but if that isn’t your thing, feel free to use mild sausage and leave out the crushed red pepper.

Broccoli Rabe Pasta

Serves 2, Cook time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 links of hot Italian sausage
• 1/2 box of pasta, what ever shape you like
• 3 cups of broccoli rabe
• 1-2 tsp of lemon juice
• ~1 tsp of crushed red pepper
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. In one pot, start boiling water for your pasta, and cook according to directions on box.
2. Fill a medium-sized bowl with ice water and start boiling a separate pot of water. We’re blanching the broccoli rabe, but if you use a different veggie like the ones I mentioned earlier, feel free to skip this step.
3. Cut the stems below the leaves off the broccoli rabe, and then cut the rest into ~2 inch sections.
4. When pot is boiling, add broccoli rabe for ~3 minutes, until stalks are tender, but still bright green. Remove broccoli rabe from pot with a strainer and plunge into ice bath to stop the cooking process.
5. Remove the casings from the sausage and add into a separate pan to crumble and brown.
6. When sausage has been cooked, add broccoli rabe and cook to heat it back up.
7. Add lemon juice, and crushed red pepper to sausage mixture and add to pasta.
8. Toss to combine and add salt/pepper to taste.
9. ENJOY!

Now this is not a 1 pot recipe and I realize that I am using a lot of pots to make it, but that’s if you want to make it faster. Feel free to use the same pot for everything, but understand that it will take you quite a bit longer.

Hope you enjoy and Happy Nourishing!