Petiteoiseau

Since I started dating a vegetarian I have gone through different phases in my cooking. At first I tried to make two dishes for us, one meat, one veg. Then, I took out meat all together. Lately we have been experimenting with “meat”. Last weekend I made vegan sausage biscuits and gravy. Earlier this month I made the vegan sloppy joes. This week I made our standby winter pasta recipe. A staple of mine and KBJB’s, this pasta is easy, comforting healthy and absolutely delicious…but here’s the thing it requires Italian sausage; and the sausage is the best part. It’s sweet and spicy and gives just the right amount of grease to create a guilty pleasure meat sauce. So I had no expectations when I went to make this recipe with “sausage”. Was it ever good. Was it even better than the original? Maybe. I made it twice in one week because the girl requested it twice in one week. Meat eaters, feel free to make it as prescribed, vegetarians and explorers alike, substitute the Italian sausage with vegan Italian sausage which is $3.99 at Trader Joes!

Recipe adapted from here.

Ingredients

2 bunches broccoli rabe, stems trimmed
1 pound orecchiette pasta
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound vegan Italian-style sausage, casings removed
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 yellow onion, diced
1 package button mushrooms, sliced
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
Pinch dried crushed red pepper flakes
1 cup tomato sauce (I use my marinara which I keep frozen but any jarred sauce will do as well)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan

Directions

Cook the broccoli rabe in a large pot of boiling salted water until crisp tender, about 1 minute. Transfer the broccoli rabe to a large bowl of ice water to cool, saving the cooking water. Bring the reserved cooking water back to a boil.

Heat the oil in a heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add the sausage and cook, breaking it up into pieces with a spoon, until browned. Add the garlic, onion and mushrooms, fennel and red pepper flakes, and saute until fragrant. After the vegetables are tender, add the marinara sauce.

Meanwhile, when the reserved cooking water is boiling, add the orecchiette and cook until al dente, tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally.

Strain the broccoli rabe and add it to the pan with the sausage mixture and toss to coat with the juices. Add the pasta to the skillet. Stir in the Parmesan and serve immediately.