Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Rapini and Pancetta Pappardelle with Roasted Yukon Potatoes Recipe

Copyright 2010 by Cooking With The Single Guy

Ingredients:
1 cup rapini aka broccoli rabe, chopped in half lengthwise
2 slices of pancetta (about 3 ounces), coarsely diced
1 cup babyYukon potatoes, chopped to desired size and roasted
1 small shallot, finely diced
1/4 cup pecorino cheese, grated
6 oz. pappardelle
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

In a pot, boil water and add salt to cook your pappardelle per packaging. Drain and set aside, but reserve about a half a cup of the pasta water.

Toss potatoes in some olive oil and season with salt and pepper, then spread out on roasting pan or oven-safe baking dish and place in oven until soft, about 25-30 minutes. When done, set aside.

In a sauté pan, cook the pancetta over medium high heat to render out the fat. About 2-3 minutes. Then add the shallot and reduce heat to medium and cook until translucent, about 2-3 minutes. Throw in the rapini and add about 1/4 cup of the pasta water to help soften the rapini. (Watch your heat, you may need to turn it up a bit to create a steaming effect.)When the rapini looks cooked, toss in the pappardelle and the roasted potatoes. (Add more pasta water if needed.) Remove from heat and toss in the pecorino cheese.

Plate your pasta and finish with a drizzle of high-quality extra virgin olive oil. Serve with toasted bread.

Makes 1 to 2 servings.

Pair with a glass of pinot noir.

TIP: You can use leftover roasted potatoes for this recipe. Just bring it out of the refrigerator to let it come to room temperature before adding it to your pasta.

See what else I made with roasted potatoes:
Red Flannel Hash Recipe
Meat and Potatoes Salad Recipe

5 comments:

Hungry Dog said...

I love rapini/broccoli rabe. It's one of my favorites. Interesting that you don't blanche it--I always do, to extract some of the bitterness. Anyway, the recipe looks great, combining pasta and potatoes is brilliant!

Single Guy Ben said...

HD, as you can tell I don't cook with rapini often since I didn't hear of blanching. The cooked rapini did taste sharp, but I just figured it was another element of this different green that I've never used. I actually didn't mind it. It wasn't super bitter, maybe because it was young and fresh from the farmers market? Blanching might be a good idea, but it sounds like another step, and I'm already boiling the pasta and roasting the potatoes. I'm a lazy single guy! :P

Anonymous said...

Unlike most vegetables, you almost can't overcook broccoli rabe. My favorite way to cook it is to first blanche the rabe, then cook whole wheat spaghetti in the same water. In a skillet, sautee olive oil, garlic and anchovies. Then toss the pasta with the anchovy mix and the rabe. Purists say never to mix fish and seafood, but I like to sprinkle with parmesan (and a dash of red pepper flakes). -- David K.

Heather @ The Single Dish said...

This looks delicious! Totally something I would make/eat.

Unknown said...

I'm going to make this tomorrow - but I thought I'd roast the rabe with the potatoes - may taste better without adding a step - the recipe sounds great - thank you!