Orecchiette pasta with rapini and anchovies recipe
Our friend and cookery writer, Kay, picked up this recipe on her honeymoon in Puglia. It’s very typical of the region — vegetable-led with the cime di rape (in Italian) or rapini and finished with a salty accent of anchovy. I love it, though I probably prefer it little less spicy than she does.
Ingredients
- 450 g cimi di rapa (rapini)
- 450 g orecchiette
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 4 garlic cloves
- 8 anchovies, drained and chopped
- 1 whole dried peperoncini (hot chilli peppers), crumbled
Details
- Cuisine: Italian
- Recipe Type: Main
- Difficulty: Easy
- Preparation Time: 15 mins
- Cooking Time: 20 mins
- Serves: 6
Step-by-step
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Blanch the cimi di rapa in the boiling water until just soft, 1 to 2 minutes. Scoop out the cimi di rapa with a slotted spoon, leaving the water in the pot, and refresh it under cold running water to stop the cooking. Once it has cooled a little, chop it into rough chunks and set aside.
- Bring the pot of water back to a boil. Add the orecchiette and cook according to the directions on the package until just al dente.
- Meanwhile, in a sauté pan heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic cloves and cook to infuse the oil with their flavor. Do not allow them to colour.
- Remove the garlic from the pan and discard it. Add the anchovies and peperoncini and cook gently until the anchovy has dissolved into the oil. Then add the chopped cimi di rapa and cook everything together until heated through and well combined.
- Drain the orecchiette, reserving a bit of the pasta cooking water. Add the pasta to the pan with the sauce. Add a little of the reserved pasta cooking water if it seems a little dry. Season to taste and serve.
THE TUCCI TABLE by Stanley Tucci & Felicity Blunt with Kay Plunkett-Hogge is published by Orion Books as a hardback & eBook, priced £25/£12.99.
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