What can I say, a dish that everyone loves from my wonderful Puglia, orecchiette with broccoli rabe (strascinat al cim d’ rap) is known throughout Italy and probably the world thanks to the number of foreign tourists who come to visit our Region. As a true Barese, I realized that I hadn’t yet included in my blog the quintessential dish of Puglian and especially Barese tradition… Clearly, this recipe is prepared with the classic homemade orecchiette by a lady from old Bari, extraordinarily small. Preparing this dish is very simple, the ingredients are orecchiette, broccoli rabe, oil, anchovy fillets, and chili pepper. There are some variations, for example, some prepare it with tomato or add garlic or even breadcrumbs, but the one I propose to you is the classic and traditional Barese one only with oil and anchovies (uegh e l’alisce sfrit). Now if you haven’t done it already, you just have to try!!!
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Cheap
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Portions: 4
- Cooking methods: Stove
- Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients
- 2.2 lbs broccoli rabe
- 21.2 oz orecchiette
- 6 anchovies in oil
- oil
- salt
- chili pepper
Tools
- Wok
Steps
Clean the broccoli rabe by removing the leaves and tops, then wash them by soaking for 10 minutes.
In the meantime, fill the pot with water and bring to a boil. As soon as the water starts boiling, add the broccoli rabe and salt, and cook for 10 minutes.
After the cooking time for the broccoli rabe, add the orecchiette and cook for another 7/8 minutes. This cooking time refers to dry orecchiette; if they are very fresh, two minutes will suffice.
While the orecchiette are cooking, put enough oil in the pan to cover the entire bottom and add the anchovies. Let them sauté.
Drain the orecchiette and pour them into the oil with the anchovies (the oil must be quite hot). Turn off the heat, add the chili pepper, and mix well.
The orecchiette with broccoli rabe are ready!!
Storage
The orecchiette with broccoli rabe should be consumed immediately after preparation.
Suggestion
Fresh orecchiette can be found in almost all supermarkets, but they are industrially made….otherwise, you can alternatively use spaghetti, penne, strozzapreti, and cavatelli.
