A sweet and spicy broccoli rabe recipe that takes the bitterness right out of the nutrient dense vegetable in this easy sauté.
If I was half way good at this blogging thing I would’ve had a very entertaining (only in retrospect) story for you today involving a 5 mile run, a thunderstorm, and a towed car.
Whipping out the camera and properly documenting such events when they are actually occurring, however, was just not second nature at the time.
There were the practical thoughts such as my phone getting ruined from the torrential rain I got to stand in while calling Ulysses 25 times to no avail.
And, there was also the reality that while this was happening I was in no way thinking about how *blog worthy* the event was.
I’ll leave it up to your imagination the expletives that were coming from my mouth instead.
Also, I like to try and keep my blog content under the $175 price point.
Yeah, that was the most expensive run of my life.
So instead of funny stories, I shall give you vegetables in the form of this sweet and spicy broccoli rabe recipe.
I know, it’s a sorry excuse for a tradeoff.
I promise it’s good though.
To make it even better I highly recommend you start here.
Wine + music. A cook’s best friend.
I’ll give you a minute to open the bottle.
Ok, ready? Good.
We eat a lot of broccoli. Like a lot, a lot.
I buy at least 4 heads of the stuff a week. It’s easy, it’s cheap and it’s good for you.
Every week I walk right up to the broccoli section, grab my plain ‘ole broccoli and move on.
Yesterday, however, I decided to get crazy and pay broccoli’s more expensive and bitter cousin, broccoli rabe, some attention.
I used to hate this stuff as a kid.
My parents loved it though and therefore it would inevitably end up on our dinner plates at least once a week.
If dad was working late, mom just boiled it.
When dad was home, however, it got sautéed in lots of yummy olive oil and doused in salt. The days dad was home were much better.
Alone, broccoli rabe is a pretty bitter green and doesn’t have many redeeming qualities besides its nutritional profile. That’s why you have to jazz it up.
And jazz it up I did.
Garlic, red pepper, pine nuts (aka little nuggets of gold as referred to in these summer herb stuffed tomatoes), raisins and dried cherries.
Spicy & sweet may sound like a weird combo but, I assure you it works here.
Deliciously.
Ingredients for the Best and Easiest Broccoli Rabe Recipe
- broccoli rabe
- extra virgin olive oil
- cloves of garlic
- red pepper flakes – omit if you don’t like spicy
- raisins, chopped
- dried cherries
- pine nuts
- salt & pepper
How to Make Broccoli Rabe
Boil a pot of water and cook the broccoli rabe for a couple of minutes. Quickly drain it and set it aside.
Over medium high, heat a skillet up and add a little olive oil.
Sauté the garlic and red pepper flakes for just a minute, being careful to not burn the garlic.
Add the rabe and season fairly generously with salt and pepper. Stir and cook for another couple of minutes.
Toss in the raisins and cherries.
Transfer to a serving bowl and sprinkle on the pine nuts.
Many like to serve rapini with Italian sausage. If you want to do that, brown the sausage before adding the garlic.
Common FAQs & Expert Tips
Broccoli Rabe vs. Broccolini
Rapini (broccoli rabe) is considered a cruciferous vegetable like Brussels and kale. It goes by a few names and you may hear it also called broccoletti, broccoli raab, spring raab and ruvo kale.
Broccolini is a hybrid of two different types of broccoli and has a sweeter and milder taste. These may look like “baby broccoli” in the produce section.
When is broccoli rabe in season?
Its peak seasons are in cooler weather so think September through early winter, and maybe just before Spring sets in.
Can you make broccoli rabe without blanching?
Technically blanching is just the technique of boiling something quickly before storing or using another cooking method.
But people often associate the ice bath (also known as shocking) with blanching to turn it into a whole process, which leads me to another FAQ. See below.
How to cook broccoli rabe so it’s less bitter?
The key is in the blanching!
Most people hate the taste of broccoli rabe because of the bitterness, but if you just boil it for 2 minutes before sautéing it makes a world of difference!
This also locks in that deep green color. Otherwise, it tends to yellow with cooking.
What part of broccoli rabe do you eat?
The entire stalk is edible, but the ends do need trimming before cooking them.
Served with grilled shrimp skewers for dinner? It’s fantastic.
More greens like this to try:
Simple Sautéed Swiss Chard
Dandelion Greens + Beans Skillet
Girl and the Goat Grilled Broccoli
Simple Grilled Baby Bok Choy
Roasted Tomato Spinach Salad with Citrus Mustard Vinaigrette
Sweet and Spicy Broccoli Rabe
Ingredients
- 1 head of broccoli rabe, washed with ends trimmed
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 2 tablespoons raisins, chopped
- 2 tablespoons dried cherries, chopped
- 2 tablespoons toasted pine nuts
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
- Once boiling, add broccoli rabe and cook for just 2 minutes (this is called blanching).
- While broccoli rabe cooks in the water, add olive oil to a skillet over medium heat.
- Once hot, add garlic and red pepper flakes and cook for 30 seconds to a 1 minute, careful not to burn garlic.
- Strain the broccoli rabe from the water and add to the skillet. Season generously with salt and pepper and toss to coat in the olive oil and garlic mixture. Cook for an additional two minutes then turn off the heat.
- Add raisins and cherries and cook for another 1-2 minutes and garnish with pine nuts before serving.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Gina Matsoukas is an AP syndicated writer. She is the founder, photographer and recipe developer of Running to the Kitchen — a food website focused on providing healthy, wholesome recipes using fresh and seasonal ingredients. Her work has been featured in numerous media outlets both digital and print, including MSN, Huffington post, Buzzfeed, Women’s Health and Food Network.
So healthy and delicious! THANK YOU!
I have to try this! I know broccoli rabe is super healthy, but every time I’ve had it, it’s been so bitter. I love that this recipe gets rid of that.
It’s usually difficult to even get my husband to eat broccoli, but these sweet and spicy broccoli rabe solved that problem. We both loved them. Thanks for the great recipe!
I love sweet and spicy flavours together. So easy and delicious recipe with goodness!
This looks super easy and delicious. I love veggies and am definitely going to give this a try.
I’m always looking for fun new side dishes and this one did not disappoint. So tasty!
I do something similar with chard and it’s my favorite way to eat it so am sure I’d like this too.
i’m slowly but surely making my way through your older posts, and i’ve gotta say i’m already in love with your recipes. book marking this now and adding you to my blog roll! hahaah amaaaazeballs
Thanks Sarah!
I don’t usually love broccoli rabe, but this actually sounds great!
Another tip with pine nuts besides freezing them… buy them in a sealed package that has an expiration date! They are expensive things for sure, so this one time I bought some in bulk… you know, just enough called for in the recipe I wanted to make (which was a thanksgiving mushroom stuffing). Turns out they had gone rancid in the store. The problem is that rancid pine nuts taste just like regular pine nuts, except that if you eat them raw (I had been snacking on them raw while making the stuffing) they leave a horrible bitter aftertaste in your mouth for like a WEEK. No kidding. Everything you eat for a week tastes like $#!t. My thanksgiving dinner was effectively ruined, and so was my week. My husband (then-boyfriend) didn’t experience any negative effects because he only ate what came out of the oven. Apparently if you cook them thoroughly it’s not so bad. This is a real thing! I couldn’t figure out where the awful taste was coming from until I googled “pine nuts bitter aftertaste.” Then it all made sense.
Anyway! Your dinner looks yummy! We like all veggies around here, and while baby bok choi is my very favourite, I think that broccoli is the husband’s favourite. It’s also our go-to staple, especially when I can’t think of what else to make. Have you tried it on the BBQ?
I haven’t tried it on the BBQ, great idea! I roast it in the oven sometimes, I bet the BBQ would be even better! That pine nut story sounds horrible…haha!