Cook and Drink

A traditional dish from the city of Bari in Puglia, Italy. The main ingredients are orecchiette and rapini.
Orecchiette is an ear shaped pasta, typical for this region. Its surface is a bit rough, and the centre (the dent) is thinner than the edge. Its shape makes it ideal for a sauce with structure.
Rapini (Cime di rapa) will no doubt make you think of broccoli, which is not our favourite vegetable. Rapini has more bitterness and character. It is completely edible, including the stem and the leaves. If broccoli is about the florets, rapini is about the stem. If your greengrocer doesn’t sell rapini, then feel free to go for bimi or broccoli and make sure to add bitterness (we added one anchovy to the sauce).
As more often with traditional dishes, it’s not completely clear what the other ingredients are. Anchovies? Italian Sausage? Breadcrumbs? Peccorini? Tomatoes? Garlic?

Wine Pairing

A wine from Puglia will of course combine very well with this dish. Red wines in this region are made from the primitivo grape (also known as zinfandel). In general the wines are fuller bodied, with some acidity, good structure and lots of sunny flavours (blackberries, perhaps chocolate).

What You Need

• 200 grams of Rapini
• 150 grams of Italian Sausage
• ¼ teaspoon Chilli Flakes
• Orecchiette
• One Anchovy
• Parmesan Cheese
• Olive Oil

What You Do

Steam or blanch the rapini. Drain and chop (1 centimeter or inch pieces is fine). Heat a pan, add some olive oil and the sausage meat. Fry until nicely brown. Remove the meat from the pan. Add some oil and the anchovy. Cook on low heat until the anchovy dissolves (a fork may be useful). Add the orecchiette to a pan with boiling water and cook until al dente. In parallel prepare the sauce by adding the meat, the chilli flakes, and the vegetables to the pan with the anchovy. Mix. Happy with the sauce? Remove the pasta from the water and transfer to the sauce. Combine. You may need to add some cooking liquid to the pan.
We served our orecchiette with some freshly grated Parmesan cheese (optional) on warm plates.