Orecchiette Pasta with Sausage and Broccoli Rabe

First off, I want to say a huge THANK YOU to those of you that are viewing my blog and making some of my recipes.  I can’t tell you how happy it makes me when a close friend, stranger or mom at school comes up to me and tells me that they are making one of the recipes from my blog that night. I love hearing their comments on how much their family enjoyed the recipe or how easy it was to make.

The biggest request I keep getting from people is to keep posting more yummy & easy weeknight dinners.  Dinner is the one meal that people struggle with. I get it, we’re all busy running around all day and to have that nagging “what to make for dinner” question hanging over our heads is not fun!

Well, I’ve got you covered for dinner tonight. I have whipped up an easy, family approved one-bowl pasta dish.  This pasta is one of those pantry pastas that I cook quite often because I usually have all of the ingredients on hand expect for the fresh broccoli rabe.

Below are the 6 ingredients you will need in addition to some fresh olive oil.

Orecchiette pasta with sausage and broccoli rabe

Recipe adapted from Giada De Laurentiis

• 1 to 2 bunches broccoli rabe, stems trimmed – You can also use baby broccoli or broccolini
• 1 pound orecchiette pasta
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 italian sausage links, casings removed or 3/4 pound of ground sausage – I used classic Italian style sausages
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• pinch of crushed red pepper flakes – I used a bit more than a pinch of red pepper and it was spicy in a good way, but not too spicy for the kids
• freshly shredded Parmesan cheese

Let’s prep the ingredients.  Wash and trim up the broccoli rabe, remove the sausage from it’s casings and mince up your garlic cloves.

Bring a medium pot of well-salted water to a boil. Cook the pasta according to the package directions, adding the broccoli rabe during the last minute of cooking time.  I loved this step because it was all done in one pot at the same time!  How efficient!  Drain both the pasta and broccoli rabe together.

Meanwhile, while the pasta is cooking, heat the 3 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat and then add the sausage.

Cook the sausage breaking it up into pieces with a spoon, until browned and juices form.

Add the garlic and red pepper flakes, and sauté until fragrant, about 2 minutes.

Add the drained pasta and broccoli rabe to the pan with the sausage mixture and toss to coat with the juices.

Serve up the pasta into individual bowls.  Make sure to scrape all those goodies off the bottom of the pan.  Top each bowl with a nice heaping of fresh Parmesan and some fresh ground pepper for the adults!

My kids and hubby loved this dish. They all rated it a 10!  I hope that your family enjoys this easy weeknight pantry pasta!