Cook Like a Rock Star (24 page)

SERVES: 4 TO 6 • TIME: ABOUT 30 MINUTES

When people think pesto, they think basil. But I like to mix pesto up and use broccoli rabe—one of my very favorite vegetables. Broccoli rabe makes a delicious starting point for pesto. Add some sharp cheese and pistachios and you’ve got an amazing way to transform an old classic. I stick with a traditional combo—bitter rabe and sweet sausage over orecchiette (translated as “little ear”)—but I tweak it just enough to make it fresh and fabulous!

MISE EN PLACE

FOR THE PESTO

Kosher salt

2 bunches of broccoli rabe, tough lower stems removed, coarsely chopped into 1-inch lengths

½ cup chopped pistachios

¾ cup freshly grated Parmigiano

Extra virgin olive oil

¼ cup mascarpone

FOR THE PASTA

Extra virgin olive oil

½ pound Italian sausage, sweet or spicy, casings removed

1 pound orecchiette

Big fat finishing oil

Freshly grated Parmigiano

FOR THE PESTO

1
Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil. Drop the rabe into the water, give it a swish, and remove it immediately, saving the water to cook your pasta in later.

2
Reserve a cup of the rabe. Toss the rest in a food processor and pulse, pulse, pulse until you have a coarse paste. Add the pistachios and Parm and purée until smooth. If it seems dry, drizzle in a little olive oil while the machine is running. Add the mascarpone and pulse until combined; taste for seasoning. It should be slightly bitter, nutty, and creamy at the same time. Reserve.

FOR THE PASTA

1
Coat a large sauté pan with olive oil and bring to medium-high heat. Add the sausage, using a spoon to break it up, and cook until brown and crumbly, 8 to 10 minutes.

2
Bring your broccoli rabe water back to a boil and toss in the pasta, cooking for 1 minute less than the package recommends. Drain the pasta and add it, along with ½ cup reserved pasta cooking water, the reserved rabe, and two-thirds of the pesto, to the pan with the sausage. Stir to combine and cook until the water evaporates and the pesto is clinging to the pasta. Remove from the heat, drizzle with some big fat finishing oil, sprinkle with more Parm, and stir vigorously to combine. Divide among bowls and serve immediately.

What delightful little ears!

Spring Pea & Ricotta Ravioli with Fava Beans

SERVES: 4 TO 6 • TIME: ABOUT 1 HOUR WITH PREMADE PASTA DOUGH

Fava beans are one of those things I wait for all year long. When you talk about seasonal cooking, fava beans immediately come to my mind because when they’re fresh, there’s really nothing like them. I was one of the weird kids who grew up liking lima beans—in fact, I asked for them every birthday dinner (why my mother didn’t just serve them to me on a regular basis I’m not really sure). Fava beans to me are a jacked-up version of lima beans, so you can imagine how much I like them. I feature them in this sauce, but then I tuck some sweet pea and cheese action into the ravioli so you get a little pocket of pea-ness on your plate along with those lovely favas!

MISE EN PLACE

Kosher salt

3 cups shelled English peas

2 cups shelled fava beans

2 cups ricotta cheese

1 cup freshly grated Parmigiano, plus more for serving

4 large eggs

All-purpose flour, as needed

1 recipe
Chef Anne’s All-Purpose Pasta Dough
, rolled for ravioli

Semolina flour, as needed

½ pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter

1 to 1½ cups
chicken stock

1
Bring a medium pot of well-salted water to a boil and set up a bowl of well-salted ice water. Drop the peas in the boiling water, let the water return to a boil, and cook the peas for 2 more minutes. Scoop the peas out of the water and plunge them immediately into the ice water. When the peas are cool, remove them from the ice water and reserve. Repeat this process with the fava beans. When the favas are cool, peel off the tough outer layer and reserve the beans.

2
In a food processor, pulse the peas to make a coarse paste. In a large bowl, combine the pea paste, ricotta, Parmigiano, and eggs; mix well, season with salt, and taste to make sure it’s delicious.

3
To assemble the ravioli, dust a clean work surface lightly with flour and lay out sheets of pasta about 12 inches long; use a pastry brush to brush the bottom half of the pasta sheets lightly with water. Fill a disposable pastry bag (or a zip-top bag with one corner cut out) with the pea mixture and pipe 1-inch balls of filling onto the pasta about 1½ inches apart. Fold the top half of the pasta sheet over the filling so the top edge meets the bottom edge. Use your index fingers to press around the filling and seal the edges shut. Use a fluted ring cutter or fluted pasta roller to cut out the ravioli; put them on a baking sheet dusted with semolina.

4
Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil.

5
Bring a large saucepan to medium heat and add the butter and 1 cup of the chicken stock; season with salt. When the butter has melted, add the fava beans.

6
Add the ravioli to the boiling water and cook for 4 to 5 minutes; scoop out the ravioli and add them to the sauce. Cook the ravioli in the sauce for a couple of minutes, shaking the pan frequently, until the sauce begins to thicken and cling to the pasta. If the sauce seems too thick, add a bit more stock. Put five ravioli on each serving plate, spoon a little extra sauce and some fava beans over each, and sprinkle with Parm to serve.

This is one of my fava-rites!

Whole Wheat Pappardelle with Roasted Butternut Squash, Broccoli Rabe & Pumpkin Seeds

SERVES: 6 TO 8 • TIME: ABOUT 45 MINUTES WITH PREMADE PASTA DOUGH

This is an amazing dish because it takes everyday ingredients and joins them in a delicious and unexpected collaboration. Both the squash and the broccoli rabe have their own strong personalities—one sweet and one bitter—and each brings something to the party that would be sorely missed if one of them didn’t show up. Combined with the nutty, earthy flavor of the whole wheat pasta, this is what I call a real team effort.

MISE EN PLACE

1 butternut squash, peeled and cut into ½-inch dice

Extra virgin olive oil

Kosher salt

1 bunch of broccoli rabe, tough bottom stems removed

3 cloves garlic, smashed

Pinch of crushed red pepper

1½ cups veggie or chicken stock

1 recipe
Chef Anne’s All-Purpose Pasta Dough
,
whole wheat variation
, cut into pappardelle, or 1 pound fresh pappardelle

1 cup freshly grated Parmigiano

Big fat finishing oil

½ cup pepitas (green pumpkin seeds), toasted

1
Preheat the oven to 375°F.

2
In a large bowl, toss the butternut squash with just enough olive oil to lightly coat it and sprinkle with salt. Put the squash on a baking sheet and roast for about 20 minutes, or until soft. Reserve.

3
Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil. Add the broccoli rabe, give it a swish, and immediately remove it from the water; save the water to cook the pasta. When the rabe is cool enough to handle, coarsely chop it and set aside.

4
Coat a large wide saucepan generously with olive oil. Toss in the garlic and red pepper and bring to medium heat. When the garlic is golden brown and very aromatic, 2 to 3 minutes, remove it from the pan and ditch it—it has fulfilled its garlic destiny. Add the roasted squash and the stock to the pan. When the stock has reduced by about half, 5 to 6 minutes, add the broccoli rabe.

5
In the meantime, bring the broccoli rabe water back to a boil, add the pasta, and cook for 4 to 5 minutes or until tender but toothsome.
Drain the pasta and add it, along with ½ cup reserved pasta cooking water, to the squash and rabe. When the pasta water has evaporated, remove the pan from the heat, add about two-thirds of the Parmigiano, and a big drizzle of the big fat finishing oil. Toss or stir vigorously to combine. Divide among serving bowls and top with more Parm and the pepitas.

Squash it!